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Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Notes (c) detailed marking scheme is developed to minimise subjective marking.
(d) examination is conducted fairly without any malpractice;
(e) marking scheme is reviewed after marking a sample of answer scripts;
(f) Scripts are allotted to the examiner after randomisation of scripts to ensure parity of scripts
for all examiners; and
(g) head examiner undertakes sample checking of scripts to ensure fair marking.
If all the above-mentioned measures are taken, it will lead to awarding of grades ensuring high
reliability and validity.

19.5 Implications for Teaching , Learning and Testing

(a) In spite of various imperfections in numerical marking, the system goes on and everyone—
the students, teachers and public at large—have developed a mind set that every one has
accepted despite all types of shortcomings in the existing system. To come out of this mind
set, all concerned schools, teachers, students, parents and the examining agencies have to
work together to replace numerical scores by letter grading.
(b) When grading is introduced, misclassification of students based on unreliable marks will be
minimised because similar students will get same grades and it would eliminate unhealthy
competition among high achievers and the low achievers will be relieved of fear of failure
in examination.
(c) Chance of improvement in grades will help reduce ill effects of poor results and avoid
human-resource wastage. (50% stagnation)
(d) Teachers have to act as facilitator, and become conversant with the philosophy and mechanics
of grading system. For that it is necessary to have pre-service and in-service training of
teachers in grading procedures.
(e) Compatibility between grades of different schools in school-based assessment and external
examinations both for curricular and non-cognitive areas will have to be ensured by
developing common design, criteria and assessment procedures.
(f) Schools will have to evolve their own criteria on the basis of G.P.A. Some guidelines for
maintaining uniformity in admissions by Boards of Secondary Education will have to be
worked out.
(g) Boards will have to adopt a uniform grading system to help inter-board comparison of
students’ performance in terms of grades. This would also help students inter-board mobility
to migrate from one board to the other.
(h) Results declared in terms of grades in place of marks will reduce pressure on students to
compete, as parents would not pressurise their wards as in today’s system. Situation will be
further eased when flexibility in reviewing borderline cases is provided.
(i) For admission to institutes of higher learning either selection tests will have to be used as
we have now in professional courses; or alternatively the selections can be made on the
basis of relative grades in different subjects, for which G.P.A. can be usable indicator for
selection of students for a specific course of studies.
If grading system is to be introduced in school system, its acceptability in institutes of higher
learning has to be accepted. And for that the U.G.C. has to be persuaded to devise some workable
strategy to remove bottlenecks for introducing grades in the university system.

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