Effective Grading (PDF)

The second edition of Effective Grading--the book that
has become a classic in the field--provides a proven hands-on
guide for evaluating student work and offers an in-depth
examination of the link between teaching and grading. Authors
Barbara E. Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson explain that
grades are not isolated artifacts but part of a process that, when
integrated with course objectives, provides rich information about
student learning, as well as being a tool for learning itself. The
authors show how the grading process can be used for broader
assessment objectives, such as curriculum and institutional
assessment.

This thoroughly revised and updated edition includes a wealth of
new material including:

* Expanded integration of the use of technology and online
teaching

* A sample syllabus with goals, outcomes, and criteria for student
work

* New developments in assessment for grant-funded projects

* Additional information on grading group work, portfolios, and
service-learning experiences

* New strategies for aligning tests and assignments with learning
goals

* Current thought on assessment in departments and general
education, using classroom work for program assessments, and using
assessment data systematically to "close the loop"

* Material on using the best of classroom assessment to foster
institutional assessment

* New case examples from colleges and universities, including
community colleges

"When the first edition of Effective Grading came out, it
quickly became the go-to book on evaluating student learning. This
second edition, especially with its extension into evaluating the
learning goals of departments and general education programs, will
make it even more valuable for everyone working to improve teaching
and learning in higher education."

--L. Dee Fink, author, Creating Significant Learning
Experiences

"Informed by encounters with hundreds of faculty in their
workshops, these two accomplished teachers, assessors, and faculty
developers have created another essential text. Current faculty, as
well as graduate students who aspire to teach in college, will
carry this edition in a briefcase for quick reference to scores of
examples of classroom teaching and assessment techniques and ways
to use students' classroom work in demonstrating departmental and
institutional effectiveness."

--Trudy W. Banta, author, Designing Effective
Assessment