What do Expert Teachers Think about Grading? - A Preliminary Report from Croatia

Abstract

Assessment of students’ progress is an integral part of teachers’ considerations and actions. The extent to which students have acquired certain teaching content, achieved the set goals, improved their abilities or formed attitudes is assessed by teachers, parents, and education policy makers. In a large number of countries, students’ progress is measured by grades, either as letter or numerical grades. Grading has been a bone of contention in pedagogical circles, as there is no consensus on the basic questions: what should be graded, when the grading process should start, what is the purpose of grading, which elements should be taken into account while grading and whether grades are necessary at all. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of primary school teachers to grading. A qualitative study was conducted, using the focus group (n = 8). The members of the focus group were expert teachers promoted to the ranks of teacher advisor or teacher excellent advisor. The interview was conducted as a semi-structured interview. After that, a content analysis was carried out and the results were classified into categories. The obtained results revealed that expert teachers have different experiences and opinions based on which they create various implicit pedagogical approaches to grading students.