A

Seminar
ON
FROM MARKING TO GRADING SYSTEM OF
EVALUTION: A PARADIGM SHIFT

PREPARED BY :
Subhashree Nayak
M.Phil Scholar
Roll no-11
RADHANATH INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES IN
EDUCATION, CUTTACK, 753002
 INTRODUCTION
Grading has come to be a pervasive and widely
accepted feature of our education system. Grading in
education is the process of applying standardized
measurements of varying levels of achievement in a
course. The primary academic purpose of grades is to
measure student achievement of learning in a particular
curriculum (Munzur, 2014). Marking system is
responsible for a variety of detrimental effects such as
anxiety, dishonesty, hostility and poor mental health.
The National Policy on Education 1986 (NPE) and
Programme of Action 1992 (POA) also envisaged the
recasting of the examination system and suggested that
grades be used in place of marks.
National Curriculum Framework 2005(NCF) envisaged an
evaluation system which would grade the students on their
regular activities in the classroom and enable students to
understand and focus on their learning gaps and learn through
these as part of formative assessment. From the year 2010,
the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has
introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
(CCE) system for grading Class X students which is actually a
nine-point scale grading system. The Board of Secondary
Education Odisha, has been adopted grading system to reform
the Class X board examination system by replacing marks from
2014.
MARKING AND ITS INADEQUACIES

• A mark is judgment of one person by another; it can

provide both information and incentive“.
• In the traditional marking system, teachers usually assign
marks ranging from 0 to 100, and therefore it is called 101
point scale. This inference is not correct, because the marks
scored by each students are subject to several uncertainties.
The 101 point scale appears to be an absolute scale
indicating the exact level of a student’s achievement.
 Drawbacks of traditional marking system:
1. Marks are inaccurate and incomparable.
2. Marks are responsible for a variety of detrimental effects
such as anxiety, dishonesty, hostility and poor mental health.
3. Marks have created controversy over high and low
achievement among students
4. Apathy in marking system is that marking standards vary
from evaluation to evaluation and institution to institution
5. Sometimes the evaluator does not discriminate properly
because he lacks discrimination power.
6. The range of marks in social sciences is skewed and marks
cluster on a point which is biased and spurious.
 CONCEPT OF GRADING
• Grading has come to be a pervasive and widely
accepted feature of our education system. The primary
academic purpose of grades is to measure student
achievement of learning in a particular curriculum
(Munzur,2014). Grading in education is the process of
applying standardized measurements of varying levels
of achievement in a course. It is a methodology by
which marks secured by a student are replaced by
some grade which is a letter starting from A to F .The
grading scale is a varying component which varies from
country to country and institution to institution. Credit
based system is used for the implementation of grading
system. The CBSE in India has already adopted grading
system.
 PURPOSE OF GRADING
• To improve the capacity of students to identify good work, that is, to
improve their self-evaluation or discrimination of skills with respect
to work submitted.
• To communicate the teachers judgment of student’s progress.
• To inform the teacher about what students have and have not
learned.
• To stimulate and encourage good work by the students.
• To select people for rewards or continued education that is perceived
to meet that purpose can lead to increased student, parent and
teacher satisfaction (Munk & Bursuck, 2004).
 TYPES OF GRADING

• Absolute Grading
Absolute grading involves the teacher pre-
specifying the standards for performance. This is
the traditional methods of awarding grades
• Relative Grading
Relative grading allows for the teacher to interpret
the results of an assessment and determine
grades based on student performance. One
example of this is grading “on the curve.” In this
approach, the grades of an assessment are forced
to fit a “bell curve” no matter what the
distribution is.
 ADVANTAGES OF GRADING
• It will minimize misclassification of students on
the basis of marks.
• It will eliminate unhealthy competition among
high achievers.
• It will reduce societal pressure and will provide
the learner with more flexibility.
• It will lead to a focus on a better learning
environment Operational.
• It will facilitate joyful and stress free learning.
• Make class work easier
 DISADVANTAGES OF GRADING SYSTEM

• It doesn’t instill a sense of competition.

• Not an accurate representation of the performance
and the knowledge gained
• It is not an exact scoring system
• Lack of incentives
PRESENT STATUS OF GRADING SYSTEM
• The Indian education system has taken a step forward towards
reviving the education system with the introduction of grading
system in session 2009-10. It will help reducing the pressure
on students during exams. Adoption of grading system in
India, the grading system was introduced in 2008-2009 from
class I-VIII, reducing the exam stress. Extending the concept
to class IX and X has reduce in the pressure, giving student an
opportunity to explore other avenues. Its implementation will
help an average student to cope with the stress though living a
lot of toppers to question it. Students will be evaluated on a 9-
point grading system, which will diminish the difference
between a student scoring 99 percentage and one scoring 91
percentage. Both students will get the A+ grade. To make the
grading system a success, parents and teachers need to
acknowledge children’s special assets and encourage them to
pursue their interest (Singh, 2010).
Various steps have been taken differently in different
states regarding the implementation of grading
system under examination reforms e.g. Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab .
CBSE have introduced the Examination Reform by
permitting students to improve their grades by
appearing at subsequent examination at the school
stage. 45 universities have also adopted grading
system for various courses (Khan, 2014).
 CONCLUSION
This paper reveals that the evaluation system lays an
effect over the students on the level of examination
stress. The numerical marking system (traditional
system) has a direct effect on the examination stress
of the students. It increases the pressure and stress
among the students during the exam time, and thus,
results into their poor academic achievement, which
can further lead to severe consequences and
dangerous steps, can be taken by the students.
Whereas on the contrary the grading system of
evaluation puts minimum examination stress, and
thus, the students can perform better and yields best
results. Since the examination stress is minimal in
case of grading system of evaluation, the academic
achievement might be higher in the students studying
under this system (grading system).
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