Teachers’ Assessment and grading Practices in upper secondary Science: The Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives

This book acknowledges that accountability of educators for the grades they assign is a part of the foundation for a meritocratic society, based on fairness in judging merit and, therefore, in assigning grades. In this view, any grade obtained by any student must be both reliable and valid. This, in turn, implies that the process of assessment of students' work on which the grade is based must also be both reliable and valid. A recognized method to obtain this is to base assessment of students' work on verified standards which are known and recognized by all agents with an interest in the resulting grade. Accountability for grades may then be obtained by transparency, where it is possible to show what the grades are based on, whether it is quantitative or qualitative data. The studies presented in the book will be useful both for teachers and students, as well as for the society as a whole.