Hodgepodge grading: Endorsed by students and teachers alike

Previous research clearly documents that teachers often award what Brookhar t (1991) referred to as a "hodgepodge grade of attitude, effort and achieve ment" (p. 36). In this article, we report on a survey of grading practices involving 307 middle and high school teachers of academic subjects in a sin gle-school system. Also surveyed were 8,664 middle and high school students from the same system. The results largely validate the findings of earlier studies. Substantial majorities of the teachers reported "hodgepodge" grad ing practices. More important, the students largely confirmed and supported the hodgepodge grading practices reported by their teachers. These results are contrasted with grading practices widely recommended in measurement te xts and are followed by a discussion of how measurement specialists may be missing the mark in their efforts to communicate their views to teachers, s chool administrators, and the general public.