17
GRADING
The teacher’s assessment of students provides the basis for assigning a grade for the course. The grade is a symbol that reflects the achievement of students in the course. In addition to grading the course as a whole, grades are given for individual assignments, quizzes, tests, and other learning activities completed by students throughout the course. This chapter examines the uses of grades in nursing programs, problems with grading, grading frameworks, and how to compute grades for nursing courses.
Purposes of Grades
In earlier chapters, there was extensive discussion about formative and summative evaluation. Through formative evaluation, the teacher provides feedback to the learner on a continuous basis. In contrast, summative evaluation is conducted periodically to indicate the student’s achievement at the end of the course or at a point during the course. Summative evaluation provides the basis for arriving at grades in the course. Grading, or marking, is defined as the use of symbols, for instance, the letters A to F, for reporting student achievement. Grading is used for summative purposes, indicating through the use of symbols how well the student performed in individual assignments, clinical practice, laboratories (skills, simulation, others), and the course as a whole.
To reflect valid judgments about student achievement, grades need to be based on careful evaluation practices, reliable test results, and multiple assessment methods. No grade should be determined by one method or one assignment completed by the students; grades reflect instead a combination of various tests and other assessment methods. Along similar lines, students may complete assignments that are not included in their grade, particularly if the emphasis is on formative evaluation. Not all of the students’ activities in a course need to be graded. Grades serve three broad purposes: (a) instructional, (b) administrative, and (c) guidance and counseling.
330Instructional Purposes
Grades for instructional purposes indicate the achievement of students in the course. They provide a measure of what students have learned and their competencies at the end of the course or at a certain point within it. A “pass” grade in the clinical practicum and a grade of “B” in the nursing course are examples of using grades for instructional purposes.
Administrative Purposes
The second purpose that grades serve is administrative. Grades are used for:
• Admission of students to entry-level and higher degree nursing programs
• Progression of students in a nursing program
• Decisions about probation and whether students can continue in the program
• Decisions about reentry into a nursing program
• Determining students’ eligibility for graduation
• Awarding scholarships and fellowships
• Awarding honors and determining acceptance into honor societies such as Sigma Theta Tau International
• Program evaluation studies
• Reporting competency to employers
Guidance and Counseling
The third use of grades is for guidance and counseling. Grades can be used to make decisions about courses to select, including more advanced courses to take or remedial courses that might be helpful. Grades also suggest academic resources that students might benefit from such as reading, study, and test-taking workshops and support. In some situations, grades assist students in making career choices, including a change in the direction of their careers.
Criticisms of Grades
Although grades serve varied purposes, there are some criticisms of them:
1. Grades are meaningless because of the diversity across nursing education programs, course faculty, clinical teachers, and preceptors.
• Response: A consistent grading system is needed across sections of nursing courses and for grading clinical practice. It is important that 331full- and part-time faculty members, clinical nurse educators, preceptors, and others involved in the course be oriented as to how to assess and grade each of the assignments. Clinical teachers and preceptors should understand the clinical evaluation process and methods, how to use the clinical evaluation tool, and grading practices in the course.
2. A single symbol, such as an A or a pass, does not adequately represent the complex details associated with achievement in nursing courses.
• Response: Grades are not intended to fulfill this need. They do not reflect every aspect of the student’s learning in a course or every accomplishment. Instead, grades are a summarization of achievements over a period of time.
3. Grades are not important.
• Response: Although a grade is only a symbol of achievement, grades are important. Grades and overall grade point average (GPA) may predict later achievement such as performance on NCLEX® (National Council Licensure Examination) and certification examinations. Although some may argue that the most valuable outcomes of learning are intangible, grades, nevertheless, are important.
4. Self-evaluations are more important than grades.
• Response: Developing the ability to evaluate one’s own learning outcomes and competencies is essential for continued professional development. Both grades and self-evaluations are needed.
5. Grades are unnecessary.
• Response: In most educational settings, grades cannot be eliminated because they serve the purposes identified earlier in the chapter. A certain level of performance is essential for progression in a nursing program and for later educational decisions; grades provide a way of determining whether students are achieving the outcome and competencies to progress through the program.
6. Grades are ineffective motivators.
• Response: For many students, grades are effective motivators. In a study by Poorman and Mastorovich (2019), undergraduate, master’s and doctoral nursing students all described the importance of grades to them. Students not only strived for an A overall, but they described the importance of a getting an A in every course they took. Grades to these nursing students were not only important but were motivators to work hard in their courses.
7. Low grades discourage students.
• Response: Although low grades may be discouraging and stressful for students, they are essential for determining progression in a nursing 332program. Nursing education programs are accountable to the profession and the public for preparing graduates with knowledge and competencies for safe practice. Not all entering students have the ability to acquire this knowledge and these skills. Low grades are important for counseling students and suggesting remedial instruction; failing grades indicate that students have not met the criteria for continuing in the nursing program.
8. Grades are inflated and thus do not reflect true achievement.
• Response: There has been considerable grade inflation over the past few decades. Students are paying more for their education, and they want a reward of high grades for their “purchase.” Other factors contributing to grade inflation are faculty hesitancy in assigning lower grades and not recognizing the problem with grade inflation; a close relationship of the teacher with students especially in clinical teaching, resulting in educators being more lenient in their grades; a lack of precision in tools used for evaluation; and grading systems in nursing education programs in which a C grade may be the lowest passing grade (Seldomridge & Walsh, 2018). In developing a grading system, it is important for nurse educators to be clear about the standards for each grade level in that system and to communicate these to students. Faculty also should periodically review the grades in nursing courses to assess whether they are inflated, keeping in mind that nursing students are carefully selected for admission into the program and need to achieve certain grades in courses to progress. For this reason, grades in nursing courses tend to be higher than general education courses in which students are more heterogeneous.
Types of Grading Systems
There are different types of grading systems or methods of reporting grades. Most nursing education programs use a letter system for grading (A, B, C, D, E or A, B, C, D, F), which may be combined with “+” and “−.” The integers 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 (or 9–1) also may be used. These two systems of grading are convenient to use, yield grades that are able to be averaged within a course and across courses, and present the grade concisely.
Grades also may be indicated by percentages (100, 99, 98, …). Most programs use percentages as a basis for assigning letter grades—90% to 100% represents an A, 80% to 89% represents a B, and so forth. In some nursing programs, the percentages for each letter grade are higher, for example, 93% to 100% for an A, 85% to 92% for a B, 76% to 84% for a C, 67% to 75% for a D, and 67% and below for an E or F. It is not 333uncommon in nursing education programs to specify that students need to achieve at least a C in each nursing course at the undergraduate level and a B or better at the graduate level. Requirements such as these are indicated in the school policies and course syllabi.
Another type of grading system is two-dimensional: pass–fail, satisfactory–unsatisfactory, credit–no credit, and met–not met. For determining clinical grades, some programs add a third honors category, creating three levels: honors–pass–fail. One advantage of a two-dimensional grading system is that the grade is not calculated in the GPA. This allows students to take new courses and explore different areas of learning without concern about the grades in these courses affecting their overall GPA. This also may be viewed as a disadvantage, however, in that clinical performance in a nursing course graded on a pass–fail basis is not calculated as part of the overall course grade. A pass indicates that students met the outcomes or demonstrated satisfactory performance of the clinical competencies. Different systems for grading clinical practice are discussed later in the chapter.
Grade Point Average
One other dimension of a grading system involves converting the letter grade to a grade point system for calculating the GPA or quality point average (QPA). Grades in a 4-point system are typically:
A = 4 points per credit (or unit)
B = 3 points per credit
C = 2 points per credit
D = 1 point per credit
F = 0 points per credit
If a student took two 3-credit courses and one 6-credit nursing course and received an A in one of the 3-credit courses, a C in the other, and a B in the 6-credit course, the GPA would be
A = 4 points/credit = 4 points × 3 credits = 12 points
C = 2 points/credit = 2 points × 3 credits = 6 points
B = 3 points/credit = 3 points × 6 credits = 18 points
36 ÷ 12 (credits) = 3.0
The letter system for grading also may include plus and minus grades. This is shown in Table 17.1. Although grade inflation may not decrease when plus and minus are used, these added categories allow for more differentiation for grading.
334TABLE 17.1 Plus and Minus System
| LETTER GRADE | GRADE POINTS |
|---|---|
| A | 4.00 |
| A− | 3.67 |
| B+ | 3.33 |
| B | 3.00 |
| B− | 2.67 |
| C+ | 2.33 |
| C | 2.00 |
| C− | 1.67 |
| D+ | 1.33 |
| D | 1.00 |
| D− | 0.67 |
| F | 0.00 |
Assigning Letter Grades
Because most nursing education programs use the letter system for grading nursing courses, this framework will be used for discussing how to assign grades. These principles, however, are applicable to the other grading systems as well. There are two major considerations in assigning letter grades: deciding what to include in the grade and selecting a grading framework.
Deciding What to Include in the Grade
Grades in nursing courses should reflect the student’s achievement and not be biased by the teacher’s own values, beliefs, and attitudes. If the student did not attend class or appeared to be inattentive during lectures, this behavior should not be incorporated into the course grade unless criteria were established at the outset for class attendance and participation.
The student’s grade is based on the tests and assessment methods developed for the course. Multiple assessment methods should be used to determine course grades. The weight given to each of these in the overall grade should reflect the emphasis of the objectives and the content measured by them. Tests and other assessment methods associated with important content, for which more time was probably spent in the instruction, should receive greater 335weight in the course grade. For example, a midterm examination in a community health nursing course should be given more weight in the course grade than a short paper that students completed about community resources for a family under their care.
How much weight should be given in the course grade to each test and other types of assessment methods used in the course? The teacher begins by listing the tests, quizzes, papers, presentations, and other assessment methods in the course that should be included in the course grade. Then the teacher decides on the importance of each of these components in the overall grade for the course. Factors to consider when weighting the components of the course grade are as follows:
1. Components that assess more of the important learning outcomes and competencies should carry more weight in the course grade than those that assess only a few of the outcomes.
2. Components that assess content that was emphasized in the course and for which more time was spent in the instruction and learning activities should receive the most weight in the course grade.
3. Components that measure the application of concepts and knowledge to clinical practice and development of higher level skills should be weighted more heavily than those that focus on recall of content.
4. Components that are more difficult and time-consuming for students should receive more weight than those that are easy and require less time to complete.
Selecting a Grading Framework
To give meaning to the grades assigned, the teacher needs a grading framework or frame of reference. There are three grading frameworks used to assign meaning to grades:
1. Criterion-referenced, also referred to as grading with an absolute scale
2. Norm-referenced or grading with a relative scale
3. Self-referenced or grading based on the growth of the student (Brookhart & Nitko, 2019)
Table 17.2 illustrates these grading frameworks. Criterion- and norm-referenced evaluation methods were described in earlier chapters; these same concepts apply to grading frameworks.
Criterion-Referenced Grading
In criterion-referenced grading, grades are based on students’ achievement of the outcomes of the course, the extent of content learned in the course, or how well they performed in clinical practice. Students who achieve more of the objectives, acquire 336more knowledge, and can perform more competencies or with greater proficiency receive higher grades. The meaning assigned to grades, then, is based on these absolute standards without regard to the achievement of other students. Using this frame of reference for grading means that it is possible for all students to achieve an A or a B in a course, if they meet the standards, or a D or F if they do not.
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