Teachers’ Beliefs About Grading, Grades, and Student Classroom Conduct

Abstract

In this mixed-methods study, inservice and preservice teachers (n = 173) responded to a survey about using grading practices to address student classroom conduct, and 73 reflected further in writing. Many supported some use of grades to manage students, and those in favor tended toward more traditional beliefs about teaching, oriented around concerns for classroom management. Most participants who wrote reflectively identified conduct-based grading as aligned with behaviorist learning theory and without regard for its impact on grade interpretation. Educational implications suggest re-examining whether grades should be understood solely as representations of academic achievement or of multiple dimensions of schooling.