INTRODUCTION

The unit “Reporting Test Scores” is about measuring the performance of students by
providing a profile of their progress and reporting the scores of tests in different ways in
context to the different purposes. There is a long tradition that students’ skills are
measured by some of testing procedures. Invariably, the product of testing is a score, a
‘yardstick’ by which an individual student is compared with others and/or by which
progress is documented. Teachers and other educators use tests, and subsequently test
scores in a variety of ways.
The first major topic of the unit deals with the functions of test scores and progress
reports of students after taking any test. As there are different functions of grading and
reporting systems with respect to its uses like instructional uses, providing feedback to
students for administrative use and guidance and informing parents about their children’s
performance.
The second key topic in the unit discussed is the “Types of Test Scores and Progress
Reports”. Here two types of reporting test scores are discussed. First is Norm-referenced
tests which include raw scores, grade norms, percentiles, stanines, and standard scores.
Second is Criterion-referenced test which include system of pass-fail and the other types
of the practices that are used to report the progress of students.
The third major theme is “Calculating CGPA and Assigning Letter Grades” It includes
the method of calculating CGPA and different steps which are concerned with assigning
letter grades in reporting test scores such as combining the data, selecting the proper
frame of reference for grading and determining the distribution of grades etc.
The last major theme of the unit is “Conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences”. This
section includes the information and important preparations for conducting the parent
teacher conferences, mentioning the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of the parent teacher
conferences.

OBJECTIVES
After studying the Unit, the students will be able to:
1. understand the purpose of reporting test scores
2. explain the functions of test scores
3. describe the essential features of progress report
4. enlist the different types of grading and reporting systems
5. calculate CGPA
6. conduct parent teacher conferences

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9.1 Functions of Test Scores and Progress Reports
The task of grading and reporting students’ progress cannot be separated from the
procedures adopted in assessing students’ learning. If instructional objectives are well
defined in terms of behavioural or performance terms and relevant tests and other
assessment procedures are properly used, grading and reporting become a matter of
summarizing the results and presenting them in understandable form. Reporting students’
progress is difficult especially when data is represented in single letter-grade system or
numerical value (Linn & Gronlund, 2000).
Assigning grades and making referrals are decisions that require information about
individual students. In contrast, curricular and instructional decisions require information
about groups of students, quite often about entire classrooms or schools (Linn &
Gronlund, 2000).
There are three primary purposes of grading students. First, grades are the primary
currency for exchange of many of the opportunities and rewards our society has to offer.
Grades can be exchanged for such diverse entities as adult approval, public recognition,
college and university admission etc. To deprive students of grades means to deprive
them of rewards and opportunities. Second, teachers become habitual of assessing their
students’ learning in grades, and if teachers don’t award grades, the students might not
well know about their learning progress. Third, grading students motivate them. Grades
can serve as incentives, and for many students incentives serve a motivating function.
The different functions of grading and reporting systems are given as under:

1. Instructional uses
The focus of grading and reporting should be the student improvement in learning. This
is most likely occur when the report: a) clarifies the instructional objectives; b) indicates
the student’s strengths and weaknesses in learning; c) provides information concerning
the student’s personal and social development; and d) contributes to student’s motivation.
The improvement of student learning is probably best achieved by the day-to-day
assessments of learning and the feedback from tests and other assessment procedures. A
portfolio of work developed during the academic year can be displayed to indicate
student’s strengths and weaknesses periodically.
Periodic progress reports can contribute to student motivation by providing short-term
goals and knowledge of results. Both are essential features of essential learning. Well-
designed progress reports can also help in evaluating instructional procedures by
identifying areas need revision. When the reports of majority of students indicate poor
progress, it may infer that there is a need to modify the instructional objectives.

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2. Feedback to students
Grading and reporting test results to the students have been an on-going practice in all the
educational institutions of the world. The mechanism or strategy may differ from country
to country or institution to institution but each institution observes this practice in any
way. Reporting test scores to students has a number of advantages for them. As the
students move up through the grades, the usefulness of the test scores for personal
academic planning and self-assessment increases. For most students, the scores provide
feedback about how much they know and how effective their efforts to learn have been.
They can know their strengths and areas need for special attention. Such feedback is
essential if students are expected to be partners in managing their own instructional time
and effort. These results help them to make good decisions for their future professional
development.
Teachers use a variety of strategies to help students become independent learners who are
able to take an increasing responsibility for their own school progress. Self-assessment is
a significant aspect of self-guided learning, and the reporting of test results can be an
integral part of the procedures teachers use to promote self-assessment. Test results help
students to identify areas need for improvement, areas in which progress has been strong,
and areas in which continued strong effort will help maintain high levels of achievement.
Test results can be used with information from teacher’s assessments to help students set
their own instructional goals, decide how they will allocate their time, and determine
priorities for improving skills such as reading, writing, speaking, and problem solving.
When students are given their own test results, they can learn about self-assessment while
doing actual self-assessment. (Iowa Testing Programs, 2011).
Grading and reporting results also provide students an opportunity for developing an
awareness of how they are growing in various skill areas. Self-assessment begins with
self-monitoring, a skill most children have begun developing well before coming to
kindergarten.

3. Administrative and guidance uses

Grades and progress reports serve a number of administrative functions. For example,
they are used for determining promotion and graduation, awarding honours, determining
sports eligibility of students, and reporting to other institutions and employers. For most
administrative purposes, a single letter-grade is typically required, but of course,
technically single letter-grade does not truly interpret student’s assessment.
Guidance and Counseling officers use grades and reports on student’s achievement, along
with other information, to help students make realistic educational and vocational plans.
Reports that include ratings on personal and social characteristics are also useful in
helping students with adjustment problems.

4. Informing parents about their children’s performance

Parents are often overwhelmed by the grades and test reports they receive from school
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personnel. In order to establish a true partnership between parents and teachers, it is
essential that information about student progress be communicated clearly, respectfully
and accurately. Test results should be provided to parents using; a) simple, clear language
free from educational and test jargon, and b) explanation of the purpose of the tests used
(Canter, 1998).
Most of the time parents are either ignored or least involved to let them aware of the
progress of their children. To strengthen connection between home and school parents
need to receive comprehensive information about their children achievement. If parents
do not understand the tests given to their children, the scores, and how the results are
used to make decisions about their children, they are prohibited from helping their
children learn and making decisions.
According to Kearney (1983), the lack of information provided to consumers about test
data has sweeping and negative consequences. He states;
Individual student needs are not met, parents are not kept fully informed of student
progress, curricular needs are not discovered and corrected, and the results are not
reported to various audiences that need to receive this information and need to know what
is being done with the information.
In some countries, there are prescribed policies for grading and reporting test results to
the parents. For example, Michigan Educational Assessment Policy (MEAP) is revised
periodically in view of parents’ suggestions and feedback. MEAP consists of criterion-
referenced tests, primarily in mathematics and reading, that are administered each year to
all fourth, seventh and tenth graders. MEAP recommends that policy makers at state and
local levels must develop strong linkages to create, implement and monitor effective
reporting practices. (Barber, Paris, Evans, & Gadsden, 1992).
Without any doubt, it is more effective to talk parents to face about their children’s scores
than to send a score report home for them to interpret on their own. For a variety of
reasons, a parent-teacher or parent-student-teacher conference offers an excellent
occasion for teachers to provide and interpret those results to the parents.
1. Teachers tend to be more knowledgeable than parents about tests and the types of
scores being interpreted.
2. Teachers can make numerous observations of their student’s work and
consequently substantiate the results. In-consistencies between test scores and
classroom performance can be noted and discussed.
3. Teachers possess work samples that can be used to illustrate the type of
classroom work the student has done. Portfolios can be used to illustrate
strengths and to explain where improvements are needed.
4. Teachers may be aware of special circumstances that may have influenced the
scores, either positively or negatively, to misrepresent the students’ achievement
level.

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5. Parents have a chance to ask questions about points of misunderstanding or about
how they can work. The student and the teacher in addressing apparent
weaknesses and in capitalizing on strengths wherever possible, test scores should
be given to the parents at the school. (Iowa Testing Program, 2011).
Under the Act of 1998, schools are required to regularly evaluate students and
periodically report to parents on the results of the evaluation, but in specific terms, the
NCCA guidelines make a recommendation that schools should report twice annually to
parents – one towards the end of 1st term or beginning of 2nd term, and the other towards
the end of school year.
Under existing data protection legislation, parents have a statutory right to obtain scores
which their children have obtained in standardized tests. NCCA have developed a set of
reports card templates to be used by schools in communicating with parents and taken in
conjunction with the Circular 0138 which was issued by the Department of Education in
2006.
In a case study conducted in the US context (www.uscharterschools.org) it was found
that ‘the school should be a source for parents, it should not dictate to parents what their
role should be’. In other words, the school should respect all parents and appreciate the
experiences and individual strengths they offer their children.

9.2 Types of Test Reporting and Marking

Usually two types of tests are used in schools, criterion-referenced and norm-referenced.
Criterion-referenced tests are used to measure student mastery of instructional objectives
or curriculum rather than to compare one student’s performance with another or to rank
students. They are often used as benchmarks to identify areas of strengths and/or
weaknesses in a given curriculum. Norm-referenced tests compare an individual’s
performance to that of his/her classmates, thus emphasizing relative rather an absolute
performance. Scores on norm-referenced tests indicate the students’ ranking relative
position to that group. Typical scores used with norm-referenced tests include raw scores,
grade norms, percentiles, stanines, and standard scores.

1. Raw scores
The raw score is simply the number of points received on a test when the test has been
scored according to the directions. For example, if a student responds to 65 items
correctly on an objective test in which each correct item counts one point, the raw score
will be 65.
Although a raw score is a numerical summary of student’s test performance, it is not very
meaningful without further information. For example, in the above example, what does a
raw score of 35 mean? How many items were in the test? What kinds of the problems
were asked? How the items were difficult?

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2. Grade norms
Grade norms are widely used with standardized achievement tests, especially at
elementary level. The grade equivalent that corresponds to a particular raw score
identifies the grade level at which the typical student obtains that raw score. Grade
equivalents are based on the performance of students in the norm group in each of two or
more grades.

3. Percentile ranking
A percentile is a score that indicates the rank of the score compared to others (same
grade/age) using a hypothetical group of 100 students. In other words, a percentile rank
(or percentile score) indicates a student’s relative position in the group in terms of
percentage of students.
Percentile rank is interpreted as the percentage of individuals receiving scores equal or
lower than a given score. A percentile of 25 indicates that the student’s test performance
is equal or exceeds 25 out of 100 students on the same measure.

4. Standard scores
A standard score is also derived from the raw scores using the normal information
gathered when the test was developed. Instead of indicating a student’s rank compared to
others, standard scores indicate how far above or below the average (Mean) an individual
score falls, using a common scale, such as one with an average of 100. Basically standard
scores express test performance in terms of standard deviation (SD) from the Mean.
Standard scores can be used to compare individuals of different grades or age groups
because all are converted into the same numerical scale. There are various forms of
standard scores such as z-score, T-score, and stanines.
Z-score expresses test performance simply and directly as the number of SD units a raw
score is above or below the Mean. A z-score is always negative when the raw score is
smaller than Mean. Symbolic representation can be shown as: z-score = X-M/SD.
T-score refers to any set of normally distributed standard cores that has a Mean of 50 and
SD of 10. Symbolically it can be represented as: T-score = 50+10(z).
Stanines are the simplest form of normalized standard scores that illustrate the process of
normalization. Stanines are single digit scores ranging from 1 to 9. These are groups of
percentile ranks with the entire group of scores divided into nine parts, with the largest
number of individuals falling in the middle stanines, and fewer students falling at the
extremes (Linn & Gronlund, 2000).

5. Norm reference test and traditional letter-grade system

It is the most easiest and popular way of grading and reporting system. The traditional
system is generally based on grades A to F. This rating is generally reflected as: Grade A

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(Excellent), B (Very Good), C (Good), D (Satisfactory/Average), E (Unsatisfactory/
Below Average), and F (Fail).
This system does truly assess a student’s progress in different learning domains. First
shortcoming is that using this system it is difficult to interpret the results. Second, a
student’s performance is linked with achievement, effort, work habits, and good
behaviour; traditional letter-grade system is unable to assess all these domains of a
student. Third, the proportion of students assigned each letter grade generally varies
from teacher to teacher. Fourth, it does not indicate patterns of strengths and weaknesses
in the students (Linn & Gronlund, 2000). Inspite of these shortcomings, this system is
popular in schools, colleges and universities.

6. Criterion reference test and the system of pass-fail

It is a popular way of reporting students’ progress, particularly at elementary level. In the
context of Pakistan, as majority of the parents are illiterate or hardly literate, therefore
they have concern with ‘pass or fail’ about their children’s performance in schools. This
system is mostly used for courses taught under a pure mastery learning approach i.e.
criterion-referenced testing.
This system has also many shortcomings. First, as students are declared just pass or fail
(successful or unsuccessful) so many students do not work hard and hence their actual
learning remains unsatisfactory or below desired level. Second, this two-category system
provides less information to the teacher, student and parents than the traditional letter-
grade (A, B, C, D) system. Third, it provides no indication of the level of learning.

7. Checklist of Objectives
To provide more informative progress reports, some schools have replaced or
supplemented the traditional grading system with a list of objectives to be checked or
rated. This system is more popular at elementary school level. The major advantage of
this system is that it provides a detailed analysis of the students’ strengths and
weaknesses. For example, the objectives for assessing reading comprehension can have
the following objectives.
 Reads with understanding
 Works out meaning and use of new words
 Reads well to others
 Reads independently for pleasure (Linn & Gronlund, 2000).

8. Rating scales
In many schools students’ progress is prepared on some rating scale, usually 1 to 10,
instead letter grades; 1 indicates the poorest performance while 10 indicates as the

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excellent or extra-ordinary performance. But in the true sense, each rating level
corresponds to a specific level of learning achievement. Such rating scales are also used
by the evaluation of students for admissions into different programmes at university
level. Some other rating scales can also be seen across the world.
In rating scales, we generally assess students’ abilities in the context of ‘how much’,
‘how often’, ‘how good’ etc. (Anderson, 2003). The continuum may be qualitative such
as ‘how good a student behaves’ or it may quantitative such as ‘how much marks a
student got in a test’. Developing rating scales has become a common practice now-a-
days, but still many teachers don’t possess the skill of developing an appropriate rating
scale in context to their particular learning situations.

9. Letters to parents/guardians
Some schools keep parents inform about the progress of their children by writing letters.
Writing letters to parents is usually done by a fewer teachers who have more concern
with their students as it is a time consuming activity. But at the same time some good
teachers avoid to write formal letters as they think that many aspects are not clearly
interpreted. And some of the parents also don’t feel comfortable to accept such letters.
Linn and Gronlund (2000) state that although letters to parents might provide a good
supplement to other types of reports, their usefulness as the sole method of reporting
progress is limited by several of the following factors.
 Comprehensive and thoughtful written reports require excessive amount of time
and energy.
 Descriptions of students learning may be misinterpreted by the parents.
 Fail to provide a systematic and organized information

10. Portfolio
The teachers of some good schools prepare complete portfolio of their students. Portfolio
is actually cumulative record of a student which reflects his/her strengths and weaknesses
in different subjects over the period of the time. It indicates what strategies were used by
the teacher to overcome the learning difficulties of the students. It also shows students’
progress periodically which indicates his/her trend of improvement. Developing portfolio
is really a hard task for the teacher, as he/she has to keep all record of students such as
teacher’s lesson plans, tests, students’ best pieces of works, and their assessments records
in an academic year.
An effective portfolio is more than simply a file into which student work products are
placed. It is a purposefully selected collection of work that often contains commentary on
the entries by both students and teachers.
No doubt, portfolio is a good tool for student’s assessment, but it has three limitations.
First, it is a time consuming process. Second, teacher must possess the skill of developing

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portfolio which is most of the time lacking. Third, it is ideal for small class size and in
Pakistani context, particularly at elementary level, class size is usually large and hence
the teacher cannot maintain portfolio of a large class.

11. Report Cards

There is a practice of report cards in many good educational institutions in many
countries including Pakistan. Many parents desire to see the report cards or progress
reports in written form issued by the schools. Although a good report card explains the
achievement of students in terms of scores or marks, conduct and behaviour, participation
in class activities etc. Well written comments can offer parents and students’ suggestions
as to how to make improvements in specific academic or behavioural areas. These
provide teachers opportunities to be reflective about the academic and behavioural
progress of their students. Such reflections may result in teachers gaining a deeper
understanding of each student’s strengths and needs for improvement. Bruadli (1998) has
divided words and phrases into three categories about what to include and exclude from
written comments on report cards.
A. Words and phrases that promote positive view of the student
1. Gets along well with people
2. Has a good grasp of …
3. Has improved tremendously
4. Is a real joy to have in class
5. Is well respected by his classmates
6. Works very hard

B. Words and phrases to convey the students need help

1. Could benefit from …
2. Finds it difficult at time to …
3. Has trouble with …
4. Requires help with …
5. Needs reinforcement in …

C. Words and phrases to avoid or use with extreme caution

1. Always
2. Never
3. Can’t )or unable to)

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 4. Won’t
Report card usually carries two shortcomings: a) regardless of how grades are assigned,
students and parents tend to use them normatively; and b) many students and parents (and
some teachers) believe that grades are far more precise than they are. In most grading
schemes, an ‘F’ denotes to fail or unsatisfactory. Hall (1990) and Wiggins (1994) state
that not only grades imprecise, they are vague in their meaning. They do not provide
parents or students with a thorough understanding of what has been learned or
accomplished.

12. Parent-teacher conferences

Parent-teacher conferences are mostly used in elementary schools. In such conferences
portfolio are discussed. This is a two-way flow of information and provides much
information to the parents. But one of the limitations is that many parents don’t come to
attend the conferences. It is also a time consuming activity and also needs sufficient
funds to hold conferences.
Literature also highlights ‘parent-student-teacher conference’ instead ‘parent-teacher
conference’, as student is also one of the key components of this process since he/she is
directly benefitted. In many developed countries, it has become the most important way
of informing parents about their children’s work in school. Parent-teacher conferences are
productive when these are carefully planned and the teachers are skilled and committed.
The parent-teacher conference is an extremely useful tool, but it shares three important
limitations with informal letter. First, it requires a substantial amount of time and skills.
Second, it does not provide a systematic record of student’s progress. Third, some parents
are unwilling to attend conferences, and they can’t be enforced.
Parent-student-teacher conferences are frequently convened in many states of the USA
and some other advanced countries. In the US, this has become a striking feature of
Charter Schools. Some schools rely more on parent conferences than written reports for
conveying the richness of how students are doing or performing. In such cases, a school
sometimes provides a narrative account of student’s accomplishments and status to
augment the parent conferences. (www.uscharterschools.org).

13. Other ways of reporting students results to parents

There are also many other ways to enhance communication between teacher and parent,
e.g. phone calls. The teachers should contact telephonically to the parents of the children
to let them inform about child’s curriculum, learning progress, any special achievement,
sharing anecdote, and invite parents in open meetings, conferences, and school functions.

9.3 Calculating CGPA and Assigning Letter Grades

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CGPA stands for Cumulative Grade Point Average. It reflects the grade point average of
all subjects/courses regarding a student’s performance in composite way. To calculate
CGPA, we should have following information.
 Marks in each subject/course
 Grade point average in each subject/course
 Total credit hours (by adding credit hours of each subject/course)
Calculating CGPA is very simple that total grade point average is divided by total credit
hours. For example if a student MA Education programme has studied 12 courses, each
of 3 credits. The total credit hours will be 36. The average of GPA, in all the twelve
course will be the CGPA. In the following table the GPA calculated for astudent of MA
Education program is given as example.
Sr. # Course Title Credits Marks Grade GPA CGPA
1. Philosophy of Education 3 85 A 4.0
2. Curriculum and Instruction 3 78 B+ 3.3
Edul. Admin.&
3. 3 72 B 3.0
Supervision
4. Computer in Education 3 77 B+ 3.3
5. Educational Technology 3 77 B+ 3.3
6. Instructional Technology 3 71 B 3.0
Teacher Edu. in Islamic
7. 3 79 B+ 3.3
Pers.
8. History of TE in Pakistan 3 76 B+ 3.3
9. Master Research Project 3 81 A- 3.7
Islamic System of
10. 3 85 A 4.0
Education
11. Research Methods in Edu. 3 86 A 4.0
12. Edul. Assessment & Evalu. 3 75 B+ 3.3
13. Comparative Education 3 82 A- 3.7
Methods of Teaching
14. 3 85 A 4.0
Islamiat
15. Teaching of Urdu 3 80 A- 3.7
Islamic Ideology &
16. 3 81 A- 3.7
Ideology
Student Teaching & Obs.
17. 3 80 A- 3.7
I

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 Student Teaching & Obs.
18. 3 88 A 4.0
II
19. Education in Pakistan 3 88 A 4.0
20. Teaching of Social Studies 3 81 A- 3.7
21. Total 60
sum of GPA
The average of GPA, will represent (GPA) CGPA 
total course
Assigning letter grades
Letter grade system is most popular in the world including Pakistan. Most teachers face
problems while assigning grades. There are four core problems or issues in this regard; 1)
what should be included in a letter grade, 2) how should achievement data be combined
in assigning letter grades?, 3) what frame of reference should be used in grading, and 4)
how should the distribution of letter grades be determined?

1. Determining what to include in a grade

Letter grades are likely to be most meaningful and useful when they represent
achievement only. If they are communicated with other factors or aspects such as effort
of work completed, personal conduct, and so on, their interpretation will become
hopelessly confused. For example, a letter grade C may represent average achievement
with extraordinary effort and excellent conduct and behaviour or vice versa.
If letter grades are to be valid indicators of achievement, they must be based on valid
measures of achievement. This involves defining objectives as intended learning
outcomes and developing or selecting tests and assessments which can measure these
learning outcomes.

2. Combining data in assigning grades

One of the key concerns while assigning grades is to be clear what aspects of a student
are to be assessed or what will be the tentative weightage to each learning outcome. For
example, if we decide that 35 percent weightage is to be given to mid-term assessment,
40 percent final term test or assessment, and 25% to assignments, presentations,
classroom participation and conduct and behaviour; we have to combine all elements by
assigning appropriate weights to each element, and then use these composite scores as a
basis for grading.

3. Selecting the proper frame of reference for grading

Letter grades are typically assigned on the basis of one of the following frames of
reference.
a) Performance in relation to other group members (relative grading)

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b) Performance in relation to specified standards (absolute grading)
c) Performance in relation to learning ability (amount of improvement)
Assigning grades on relative basis involves comparing a student’s performance with that
of a reference group, mostly class fellows. In this system, the grade is determined by the
student’s relative position or ranking in the total group. Although relative grading has a
disadvantage of a shifting frame of reference (i.e. grades depend upon the group’s
ability), it is still widely used in schools, as most of the time our system of testing is
‘norm-referenced’.
Assigning grades on an absolute basis involves comparing a student’s performance to
specified standards set by the teacher. This is what we call as ‘criterion-referenced’
testing. If all students show a low level of mastery consistent with the established
performance standard, all will receive low grades.
The student performance in relation to the learning ability is inconsistent with a standard-
based system of evaluating and reporting student performance. The improvement over the
short time span is difficult. Thus lack of reliability in judging achievement in relation to
ability and in judging degree of improvement will result in grades of low dependability.
Therefore such grades are used as supplementary to other grading systems.

4. Determining the distribution of grades

The assigning of relative grades is essentially a matter of ranking the student in order of
overall achievement and assigning letter grades on the basis of each student’s rank in the
group. This ranking might be limited to a single classroom group or might be based on
the combined distribution of several classroom groups taking the same course.
If grading on the curve is to be done, the most sensible approach in determining the
distribution of letter grades in a school is to have the school staff set general guidelines
for introductory and advanced courses. All staff members must understand the basis for
assigning grades, and this basis must be clearly communicated to users of the grades. If
the objectives of a course are clearly mentioned and the standards for mastery
appropriately set, the letter grades in an absolute system may be defined as the degree to
which the objectives have been attained, as followed.
A = Outstanding (90 to 100%)
B = very Good (80-89%)
C = Satisfactory (70-79%)
D = Very Weak (60-69%)
F = Unsatisfactory (Less than 60%)

9.4 Conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences

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The first conference is usually arranged in the beginning of the school year to allow
parents and teachers to get acquaintance and preparing plan for the coming months.
Teachers usually receive some training to plan and conduct such conferences. Following
steps may be observed for holding effective parent-teacher conferences.
1. Prepare for the conference
 Review the goals and objectives
 Organize the information to present
 If portfolios are to discuss, these are well-arranged
 Start and keep positive focus
 Announce the final date and time as per convenience of the parents and
children
 Consider socio-cultural barriers of students / parents
 Check with other staff who works your advisee
 Develop a packet of conference including student’s goals, samples of
work, and reports or notes from other staff.

2. Rehearse the conference with students by role-playing

 Students present their goals, learning activities, samples of work
 Students ask for comments and suggestions from parents

3. Conduct conference with student, parent, and advisor. Advisee takes the lead to
the greatest possible extent
 Have a comfortable setting of chairs, tables etc.
 Notify a viable timetable for the conferences
 Review goals set earlier
 Review progress towards goals
 Review progress with samples of work from learning activities
 Present students strong points first
 Review attendance and handling of responsibilities at school and
home
 Modify goals for balance of the year as necessary
 Determine other learning activities to accomplish goals
 Describe upcoming events and activities
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  Discuss how the home can contribute to learning
 Parents should be encouraged to share their thoughts on students’
progress
 Ask parents and students for questions, new ideas

4. Do’s of parent-teacher conferences

 Be friendly
 Be honest
 Be positive in approach
 Be willing to listen and explain
 Be willing to accept parents’ feelings
 Be careful about giving advice
 Be professional and maintain a positive attitude
 Begin with student’s strengths
 Review student’s cumulative record prior to conference
 Assemble samples of student’s work
 List questions to ask parents and anticipate parents’ questions
 Conclude the conference with an overall summary
 Keep a written record of the conference, listing problems and
suggestions, with a copy for the parents

5. Don’ts of the parent teacher conference

 Don’t argue
 Don’t get angry
 Don’t ask embarrassing questions
 Don’t talk about other students, parents and teachers
 Don’t bluff if you don’t know
 Don’t reject parents’ suggestions
 Don’t blame parents
 Don’t talk too much; be a good listener (www.udel.edu.)

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9.5 Activities
Activity 1:
Enlist three pros and cons of test scores.

Activity 2:
Give a self-explanatory example of each of the types of test scores.

Activity 3:
Write down the different purposes and functions of test scores in order of importance as
per your experience. Add more purposes as many as you can.

Activity 4:
Compare the modes of reporting test scores to parents by MEAP and NCCA. Also
conclude which is relatively more appropriate in the context of Pakistan as per your point
of view.

Activity 5:
In view of the strengths and shortcomings in above different grading and reporting
systems, how would you briefly comment on the following characteristics of a multiple
grading and reporting system for effective assessment of students’ learning?
a) Grading and reporting system should be guided by the functions to be served.
b) It should be developed cooperatively by parents, students, teachers, and other
school personnel.
c) It should be based on clear and specific instructional objectives.
d) It should be consistent with school standards.
e) It should be based on adequate assessment.
f) It should provide detailed information of student’s progress, particularly
diagnostic and practical aspects.
g) It should have the space of conducting parent-teacher conferences.

Activity 6:
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Explain the differences between relative grading and absolute grading by giving an
example of each.

Activity 7:
Faiza Shaheen, a student of MA Education (Secondary) has earned the following marks,
grades and GPA in the 22 courses at the Institute of Education & Research, University of
the Punjab. Calculate her CGPA. Note down that that maximum value of GPA in each
course is 4.

Activity 8:
Write Do’s and Don’ts in order of priority as per your perception. You may add more
points or exclude what have been mentioned above.

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9.6 Self-Assessment Questions
Part-I: MCQs:
Encircle the best/correct response against each of the following statements.
1. Comparing a students’ performance in a test in relation to his/her classmates is
referred to as:
a) Learning outcomes
b) Evaluation
c) Measurement
d) Norm-referenced assessment
e) Criterion-referenced assessment

2. The first test data on a test is called as:

a) Frequency
b) Numeric
c) Raw score
d) True score
e) Cleaned data

3. A student’s relative position in the group in terms of percentage is referred to as:

a) Mean
b) Median
c) Mode
d) Standard deviation
e) Percentile

4. A z-score is always negative when:

a) Raw score is smaller than mean
b) Raw score is greater than mean
c) Raw score is equal to mean
d) T-score = 50
e) None of the above
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5. The simplest form of normalized standard score is:
a) Standard score
b) Z-score
c) True score
d) Stanines
e) T-score

6. Grading and reporting works better when:

a) Assessment procedures rarely used
b) Assessment procedures mostly used
c) Assessment procedures properly used
d) Students perform better
e) Awards are given to students

7. Periodic assessment is almost synonymous to:

a) Evaluation
b) Measurement
c) Summative assessment
d) Formative assessment
e) Monthly assessment

8. A student’s best work is generally compiled by a teacher in the form of:

a) Cumulative record
b) Portfolio
c) Assessment report
d) Comments by the teacher
e) Written comments

9. Self-assessment begins with:

a) Excellent work
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 b) Any academic contribution
c) Self-monitoring
d) Skill development
e) Knowledge updating

10. Who said that ‘lack of information provided to consumers about test data has
negative and sweeping consequences’
a) Hopkins & Stanley
b) Anderson
c) Linn & Gronlund
d) Barber et al.
e) Kearney

11. Michigan Educational Policy (MEAP) is revised by parents’ suggestions:

a) Quarterly
b) Biannually
c) Annually
d) Every three years
e) Periodically

12. The system used in our BISEs is based on:

a) Letter grade
b) Pass-fail
c) Checklist of objectives
d) Rating scales
e) Portfolio

13. The contribution to report cards is of:

a) Hopkins & Stanley
b) Hall
c) Wiggins
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 d) Anderson
e) Bruadli

14. The first stage in parent-teacher conferences is:

a) Start and keep positive focus
b) Planning
c) Implementing/conducting
d) Rehearsal
e) Role play

Part-II: Short Answer Questions

1. How do Z-scores and T-scores differ?
2. Write down two strengths and two shortcomings of test scores.
3. Explain briefly the function of ‘instructional uses’ of grading and reporting.
4. What type of grading system is employed in public sector elementary schools of
Pakistan?
5. How does ‘pass-fail’ system not truly assess students’ performance?
6. What do you mean by ‘checklist of objectives’ in context to a type of grading and
reporting?
7. Enlist the activities that a teacher can consider in developing a portfolio of a
student.
8. Report cards are a good means of reporting results to parents. Comment.
9. What is the importance of assigning letter grades to assess students’ assessment?

Part-III: Essay-type Questions

1. Describe the various types of reporting test scores by giving examples from our
country context.
2. In what way parent-teacher conferences play significant role in regard to provide
feedback to parents about their children academic growth and development?
3. What should be essentials of a good progress report? Discuss in detail with
respect to public school system in Pakistan.

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Key to MCQs

Q. No. Correct Q. No. Correct

response Response
1. D 2. C
3. E 4. A
5. D 6. C
7. D 8. B
9. C 10. E
11. D 12. B
13. E 14. B

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9.7 References/Suggested Readings
Anderson, L.W. (2003). Classroom Assessment – Enhancing the Quality of Teacher
Decision Making. London: Lawerence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Barber, B.L., Paris, S.G., Evans, M., & Gadsden, V.L. (1992). Policies for Reporting test
Results to Parents. USA: Pennsylvania State University.
Brualdi, A. (1998). Teacher comments on report cards. Practical Assessment, Research &
Evaluation, 6(5).
Canter, A. (1998). Understanding test scores. Accessible at:
http://www.wyanclotle.org/SpecialEd/Understanding_test_scores.htm
Hall, K. (1990). Determining the Success of Narrative Report Cards. Unpublished
Manuscript. (ERIC Documents No. 334 013).
Hopkins, K.D. & Stanley, J.C. (1981). Educational and Psychological Measurement and
Evaluation (6th ed.). New Dehli: Pearson Education.
Iowa Testing Programs (2011). Reporting results – Interpreting test scores – ITBS: Iowa
Tests of Basic Skills. Iowa: The University of Iowa College of Education.
Accessible at: http://www.education.uiowa.edu/itp/itbs_interp_rpts.aspx
Kearney, C.P. (1983). Uses and Abuses of Assessment and Evaluation data by Policy
Makers. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practices, 2, 9-17.
Linn, R.L. & Gronlund, N.E. (2000). MEASUREMENT and ASSESSMENT in
TEACHING (8th ed.). New Dehli: Pearson Education.
Wiggins, G. (1994). Towards better report cards. Educational Leadership, 52(2), 28-37.
www.uscharterschools.org
www.udel.edu.

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