Walvoord, Barbara E. and Virginia Johnson Anderson. Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 1998. 250 pp. Available in Presbyterian College's Thomason Library.

In Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment, authors Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Anderson state that the primary goal of grading should be to encourage learning and student involvement in a course: "Be a teacher first, a gatekeeper last" (15). They have ideas for faculty planning a new course, revising a grading system, or seeking to make the time and energy spent grading more efficient and meaningful for student learning.

• In planning a new course or revising an existing one
  Make the course assignment-centered. Walvoord and Johnson urge teachers to consider grading early in their planning. Do not ask, "What should I cover in this course?" but "What should my students learn to do?" (26). Decide what you want students to learn, select assignments that teach and test this learning, and create a course outline with a flexible workload that spreads out the assignments.
  Give students explicit directions for each assignment. Use building-block skills in early assignments. For example, some instructors have students in lab courses write only Introductions the first week and then add Methods and Materials and so on (36). Substitute shorter, "less formal assignments for longer, more formal ones" (37). Aim for student involvement: students should "write, talk, [and] solve problems" to use their knowledge. Make assignment and test instructions clear with assignment sheets. Walvoord and Anderson suggest the letters AMPS to remind faculty to remember audience, main point and purpose, pattern and procedures, and standards and criteria on their assignment sheets.
• In planning class activities
  Rethink the use of in-class time. In her keynote address at the 2001 Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, Walvoord said that students' first exposure to new information should take place outside of class by observation, reading, lecture, or visual media. Require students to bring writing to class showing they have done the readings, and count that writing in their final grade. Lab students, for example, bring a "ticket" to get into lab, such as a paragraph on the purpose of that lab. Use in-class time to have students process their first exposure to information by analyzing, arguing, or solving problems.
• In planning a grading system
  Use grading scales or rubrics that are assignment-specific. The authors tell how to construct a Primary Trait Analysis (PTA) scale referencing highly explicit criteria. Such a scale helps students know what you want them to learn and uses grading to motivate them. The authors offer suggestions on establishing criteria and standards for grading, calculating course grades, and communicating with students about grades.
• In grading papers or projects
  Make grading time-efficient. Walvoord and Anderson offer many strategies to reduce the time spent without reducing the quality of the grading and teaching. Below are a few examples:

1. "Separate commenting from grading" (120). Comment in teachable moments on drafts or in conferences to help students revise. On early drafts you can coach the writing without having to justify the grade.
2. "Frame comments to your students' use" (123). The authors question the usefulness of lengthy comments on final graded papers. Focus on the crucial problem with the paper on early drafts and add only a sentence or two of comment on subsequent drafts. If you mark all errors as you grade, "you are doing half the work for the student" (127). Recommend conferences at the writing center for students whose drafts indicate problems with grammar and mechanics. On final drafts give only a grade and circle the relevant PTA scale item.
3. "Delegate the work" (130). Use self-checklists and small group or peer response with guidelines.
4. "Use technology to save time and enhance results" (134). Write comments on the computer, use a handout available online with advice on common problems, or use e-mail or a discussion board to help students respond to each other's work.

Effective Grading includes sources for further reading on each topic and sample PTA scales, assignment sheets, checklists, and guidelines that add to this valuable book.

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