Assigning report card grades has ling been a time-consuming part
of a teachers job. To produce a grade, teachers design and grade
assignments, tests, homework, and other tasks that they deem are
important. This age old practice raises some new questions in a
standards-driven educational system. What relationship do the
grades have to the standards students are asked to achieve? Can
you tell by the grade which standards students have and have not
achieved proficiency? What information do grades give that would
help parents (and students) understand what a student knows and
can do in relation to a standard? Are the assignments and tests
used to create grades designed to elicit information about where
the student is in achieving a standard? Is the time spent
creating grades in alignment with the teachers responsibility to
teach the content standards? If, instead, the teachers time was
spent trying to assess and report where the student was in
relationship to the standard, would it be better aligned? How do
you t