GRADING

AND
REPORTING

One of the more frustrating aspects of

teaching is that of grading and reporting
student progress since there are so many
factors to consider, and so many decisions
to made. This concept attempts to simplify
this task and minimize some of the
complexities by describing the various
types of grading and reporting systems and
providing guidelines for their effective use.
The main aim of grading and reporting
system is to provide results in brief,
understandable form for varied users which

FUNCTIONS OF
GRADING AND
REPORTING SYSTEMS

1.
Enhancing
students
learning
through: clarifying instructional objectives
for them, showing students strengths and
weaknesses, providing information on
personal- social development, enhancing
students motivation and indicating where
teaching might be modified. These can be
achieved through day-to-day tests and
feedback and integrated periodic tests.

2.
Reports
to
parents/guardians.
Grading and reporting systems also
inform parents and guardians of students
on the progress of their wards. Likewise,
grades
and
reports
communicate
objectives to parents, so they can help
promote learning and likewise, and
communicate how well objectives were
met, so parents can better plan.

3. Administrative and guidance

uses.
The
administrative
and
guidance
purpose of grading and
reporting consist in: helping to decide
promotion,graduation,honors, athletic,
eligibility, reporting achievement to
other schools or to employers,
providing
input
for
realistic
educational, vocational, and personal
counseling.

TYPES OF GRADING
AND REPORTING
SYSTEMS

a. Traditional letter-grade system. In the

traditional letter grade system, students
performance are summarized by means
of letters.
b. Pass-fail. The pass or fail system utilizes
a dichotomous grade system. Either a
student has complied and reached certain
standards, in which case he passes or he
failed to do so and he gets a failing mark.

c. Checklist of objectives. In this system,

the
objectives
of
the
course
are
enumerated. After each objective, the
students level of achievement is indicated:
Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Fair or Poor.
d. Letters to parents/guardians. Letters to
parents or guardians are useful supplement
to grades. However, they have limited
value as sole report because they are very
time consuming to prepare accounts of
weaknesses are often misinterpreted by
parents or guardians, and they are not
characterized
as
systematic
nor
cumulative.

e. Portfolios. As already explained, a

portfolio is a set of purposefully
selected work, with commentary by
student and teacher.
f. Parent-teacher
conferences.
Parent teacher conferences are
mainly used in elementary schools.
This requires that parents of pupils
come for a conference with the
teacher to discuss the pupils

Development of a
grading and reporting
system
Grading and reporting systems
should be developed cooperatively
(parents, students, school personnel)
in order to ensure development of a
more adequate system and a system
that is understandable to all. They

 Based on clear statement of learning

objectives. The grading and reporting

system needs to be based on the same
set of learning objectives that the
parents, teachers and students agreed
at the beginning.
Consistent with school standards. The

system must support the school

standards rather than oppose the school
standards a ready set.

Based on adequate assessment. The grading and

reporting system should be easily verifiable

through adequate system of testing, measurement
and assessment methods.
Based on the right level of detail. The system must

be detailed enough to be diagnostic but compact

enough to be practical: not too time consuming to
prepare and use understandable to users and
easily summarized for school records purposes.
Providing

needed.

for

parent-teacher

conferences

as

GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE

GRADING

1. Describe grading procedures to students at

beginning of instruction.
2. Clarify that course grade will be based on
achievement only.
3. Explain how other factors (effort, work habits, etc.)
will be reported.
4. Relate grading procedures to intended learning
outcomes.

5. Obtain valid evidence( tests, etc.) for assigning

grades.
6. Try to prevent cheating.
7. Return and review all test results as soon as
possible.
8. Properly weight the various types of achievements
included in the grade.

9. Do not lower an achievement grade for tardiness,

weak effort, or misbehavior.
10. Be fair. Avoid bias. When in doubt, review the
evidences. If still in doubt, give the higher grade.

Conducting ParentTeacher Conferences

Parent-teacher
conferences
become
productive when they are carefully planned
and the teacher is skilled in handling such
conferences. Skills in conducting parentteacher conferences can be developed.
Here are some hints on conducting good
conferences.

Guidelines for good conference

1. Make plans
Review your goals.
Organize the information to present.
Make list of points to cover and questions

to ask.
If bring portfolios, select and review
carefully.

2. Start positive- and maintain a

positive focus.
Present students strong points first.
Be helpful to have example of work to

show strengths and needs.

Compare early vs. Later work to show
improvement.

3. Encourage parents to participate

and share information.
Be willing to listen.
Be willing to answer questions.

4. Plan actions cooperatively.

What steps you can each take?
Summarize at the end.

5.End with positive comment.

Should not be a vague generality.
Should be true.

6. Use good human relation skills.

Assigning Letter Grades and

Computing Grades
Grades assigned to students must include
only achievement. It is very important to
avoid the temptation to include effort or
potential and it is difficult to distinguish ability
from
achievement.
Furthermore,
if
achievement and effort are combined in some
way, grades would mean different things for
different individuals.

Grades reflected on report cards are

numbers or numeral quantities arrived at after
several data on the students performance are
combined. The following guidelines may be
considered in combining such data:
Properly weight each component to create a

composite. The weights used are normally

agreed upon by the school officials.
The more scientific approach is to use a
principal components analysis which is hardly
practiced in schools because of the difficulty
involved.

Put all components on same scale to weight

properly:
a. equate ranges of scores
b. or, convert all to T-scores or other standard

scores

Norm or Criterion-Referenced
Grading
Grades may reflect relative performance.
This is more commonly called a normreferenced grading system. In such a
system:
a. grade (like a class rank) depends on what
group you are in, not just your own
performance.

b. grading is a complex task, because grades

must:
I. clearly define the domain.
II. clearly define and justify the performance
standards.
III. Be based on criterion-referenced
assessment.
c. Conditions are hard to meet except in
complete mastery learning settings.

d. Finally, grades may also reflect learning

ability or improvement performance .In such a
system:
1. grades are inconsistent with a standardsbased system because now, each child is
his/her own standard.
2. reliably estimating learning ability (separate
from achievement) is very difficult.

3.
one cannot reliably measure change
with classroom
measures,
4.
therefore, should only be used as a
supplement.

Distribution of Grades and

Guidelines for Effective Grading
The
norm-referenced
and
criterion
referenced distribution of grades have been in
practice for several years now. The normreferenced or relative distribution is a big
issue because of the following considerations:
a. Normal curve is defensible only when we
have large, unselected group

b. when grading on the curve, school staff

should set
fair ranges of grades for different groups
and courses
c. when grading on the curve, any pass-fail
decision should be based on an absolute
standard
d. standards and ranges should be understood
and followed by all teachers

On the other hand, the criterion-referenced

or absolute grading system is not an issue
because:
a. it seldom uses letter grades alone
b. it often includes checklists of what has been

mastered
c. the distribution of grades is not
predetermined

The K to 12 GRADING
SYSTEM: REPRODUCED from
DepEd Order No. 31. s. 2012

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

IN THE K to 12 PROGRAM ( Per DepEd
Order No. 31, s. 2012 )
CHARACTERISTICS of K to 12 ASSESSMENT

PROCEDURE
The assessment process is holistic, with the
emphasis on the formative or developmental
purpose of quality assurance in the student
learning.

It is also standards-based as it seeks to

ensure that teachers will teach according
to the standards and that students will aim
to meet or even exceed to the standards.
The assessment shall be done at four levels
which are an adaptation of the cognitive
levels for learning. Weights are assigned to
the levels.

LEVEL OF
PERFORMANCE/ASSESSMEN
T

PERCENTAGE WEIGHT

KNOWLEDGE

15%

PROCESS or SKILLS

25%

UNDERSTANDING(S)

30%

PRODUCT/PERFORMANCES

30%

100%

DEFINITION OF LEVELS
1. Knowledge refers to the substantive content
of the curriculum, the facts and information that
the student acquires.
2. Process refers to cognitive operations that
the student performs on facts and information
for the purpose of constructing meanings and
understandings. This level is assessed through
activities or tests of analytical ability.

3. Understandings refer to enduring big ideas,

principles and generalizations inherent to the
discipline, which may be assessed using the
facets of understanding. Assessment at this
level, should require ability to synthesize,
generalize and judge accordingly.
4. Products/Performances refer to real-life
application of understanding as evidenced by the
students performance of authentic tasks. At this
level students are expected to be able to apply
what has been learned in contrived or real
situations.

Levels of Assessment
Levels

Suggested Assessment Tools

Knowledge (15%)

1. Selected-response Item
a. multiple choice b. True or False c.
Matching Type
2. Constructed response type of test
a. Essay b. Fill in the blanks c. Performing
tasks

Process or Skills
(25%)

Outlining, organizing, analyzing, interpreting,

translating.
Drawing analogies
Constructing the graphs, flowcharts
Doing role plays, drawing

Understanding
(30%)

Oral Discourse/Recitation
Portfolio
Open-ended tests

Products/
Performance
(30%)

Participation
Projects
Homework

Experiments
Portfolio
Other Outputs

LEVELS OF PROFECIENCY
At the end of the quarter, the performance of
students shall be described in the report card,
based on the following levels of proficiency:
Beginning-The students at this level struggles

with his/her understanding; prerequisite and

fundamental knowledge and or skills have not
been acquired adequately to aid understanding.

Developing- the student at this level possesses

the minimum knowledge and skills and core

understanding, but needs help throughout the
performance of authentic task.

Approaching Proficiency- the student at this

level has developed the fundamental knowledge

and skills and core understandings, and with
the little guidance from the teacher and/or with
some assistance from peers, can transfer these
understandings through authentic task.

Proficient the student at this level has

developed the fundamental knowledge and

skills and core understandings, and can
transfer
them
independently
through
authentic performance task.

Advanced- the student at this level exceeds

the core requirements in terms of knowledge,

and skills and understandings, and can
transfer them automatically and flexibly.

Level of Proficiency

Equivalent
Numerical Value

Beginning

74%
and below
75-79%
80-84%

Developing
Approaching
Proficiency
Proficient
Advanced

85-89%
90%
and above

LEVELS OF PROFICIENCY
B D AP P A -

for Beginning;
for Developing;
for Approaching Proficiency
for Proficient
for Advanced

Comparison of Levels of Proficiency

Approaching
Proficiency

Proficient

Advanced

Minimum

Fundament
al

Fundament
al

Exceeding

Needs help

With little
guidance
from the
teacher or
some
assistance
from peers

Independent

Automatic
and flexible

Indicators

Beginning

Developin
g

Acquisition
of
Knowledge,
Skills and
Understandi
ng

Struggling
or have not
acquired

Transfer of
knowledge/
Application
of
Knowledge

At the end of the four quarters, the Final Grade for each
learning area shall be reported as the average of the four
quarterly ratings, expressed in terms of the levels of
proficiency. The general average shall be the final grades of
the different learning areas, also expressed in terms of
levels of proficiency, with the numerical equivalent in
parenthesis.
Promotion and Retention of students shall be by subject.
Students whose proficiency level is Beginning (B) at the end
of the quarter shall be required to undergo remediation
after class hours. If by the end of the school year, the
students are still at the Beginning Level, they can shall be
required to take summer.

As a matter of policy every learning

deficiency should be bridged even
for whose level of proficiency is
above the Beginning Level. The
guidelines for bridging gaps in
learning are in separate DepEd Order.

CULMINATING RESOURCES
ACTIVITIES/PERFORMANCES
At the end of every quarter, schools are
encouraged to put up exhibits of
student product across subjects as
culminating activity. Students may also
do an exhibition of their performance
in different subjects as evidence of
their learning of performance
standards.

8.7.4. Sample Report Cards for Grades 1-6

Periodic Rating

Learning Areas

FINAL
RATING

AP

AP

Filipino

English

AP

AP

AP

AP

MAPEH

Music

Art

Physical Education

Health

Mother Tongue

Mathematics
Araling Panlipunan

Edukasyon
Pagpapakatao
General Average

sa

No.
of
Scho
ol
Days

JUN

JUL

19

Attendance Record
AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

JAN

FEB

21

22

19

21

MAR

APR

Tota
l

21

21

20

14

21

21

18

198

22

21

21

20

14

21

21

18

198

No.
of
scho
ol
Days
Prese
nt
No.
of
Time
s
Tardy

Character
Building
Activities
Traits
1
2

1. Courtesy

2. Honesty

3. Helpfulness and Cooperation

4. Resourcefulness and Creativity

5. Consideration for others

6. Sportsmanship

7. Obedience

8. Self-reliance

9. Industry

10. Cleanliness and Orderliness

Guidelines for Rating

A Very Good
B Good
C Fair
D Poor

Ulat tungkol sa Pag-uunlad

Sample Report Card for
ng Marka
Grades 7-10
Larangan ng Pagaaral

MARKAHAN

Hulin
g
Mark
a

Pasya

Filipino

Passed

English

AP

AP

AP

AP

AP

Passed

Mathematics

AP

AP

AP

AP

Passed

Science

AP

AP

AP

Passed

AP

AP

AP

AP

AP

Passed

Technology and Livelihood

Education (TLE)

Passed

MAPEH

Passed

Music

Passed

Arts

Passed

Physical Education

Passed

Health

Passed

Passed

Araling Panlipunan (AP)

Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao

Example: 70 item exam

70=95% ; 0=65% 50% passing grade
35=75% ; 34=74%
70 95 1
-35 -75
21 36
35 20 21
+1 +1 15 2=30
36 21
6 1= 6
36

15 steps interval is 2
6 steps interval is 1

RAW SCORE

GRADES

70-69

95%

68-67

94%

66-65

93%

64-63

92%

62-61

91%

60-59

90%

58-57

89%

56-55

88%

54-53

87%

52-51

86%

50-49

85%

48-47

84%

46-45

83%

44-43

82%

42-41

81%

40

80%

39

79%

38

78%

37

77%

36

76%

35

75%