Policies of Midwest Community Colleges around Communicating Grades to Students

Abstract

ABSTRACTCommunicating grades to students often and early has shown to have a positive impact on retention. Studies have shown that students greatly benefit from the communication, but how have community colleges supported faculty in their policies and practices about communicating grades? In this study, community colleges in the Midwestern United States were surveyed to understand the common practices, resources, training, and support for faculty around communicating grades to students, including the use of learning management systems and early grade reports. Communicating grades to students needs to be tied to the community college policies, practices, training, and professional development. The recommendation based on the survey results identifies how resources need to be allocated to support faculty and finances allocated to administrators to make decisions to support these efforts toward retention.