The Purpose of Grades

Transmutation Table
It describes how well students have achieved the learning objectives Average on Test Grade
or goals established for a class or course of study. Grades should Below 60 % 70
reflect students' performance on specific learning criteria. 60-75 75
76-80 80
A grade serves several purposes and we mention some of the more 81-85 85
important purposes of grades: 86-90 90
91-95 94
1. Grades provide numerical measures of the student’s
knowledge of the subject. The information provided by the 96 –Above 95
student’s grade can be used by the teacher to plan for the
future academic subjects of the students.
Grade/Mark Percentage/Equivalent Description
2. Grades serves as effective motivation/feedback for the 1.0 97-100 Excellent
students. They serve as challenges to the students to achieve 1.25 94-96 Excellent
higher grades next time. 1.5 91-93 Very Good
1.75 88-90 Very Good
3. Grades inform the student’s parents or guardians on the
progress of their wards. 2.0 85-87 Good
2.25 82-84 Good
4. Grades provide school administrations with vital information for 2.5 79-81 Satisfactory
making policy decisions. 2.75 76-78 Satisfactory
3.0 75 Passing
5. Administrative Management. Grades serve a broader purpose 5.0 65-74 Failure
in various facets of school administration. Colleges, for
instance, use high school transcripts and grades to assess an Norm-Referenced Grading – the teacher bases the grade of the student on
applicant's qualifications for entrance. his standing relative to the entire class.

Marks and Marking System

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡

= 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛

The arithmetic mean of the test scores is therefore the teacher’s closest
estimate to the true ability score of the students. This is a very useful
principle to remember in this subject.

Criterion-Referenced Grading – the student’s grades are based on a target

performance level. The teacher sets the target at the beginning of the year
and informs the students of this target.