Development and Validation of the Survey of Unorthodox Grading Beliefs for Teachers and Teacher Candidates

Abstract

Summative course grades or marks are teacher-constructed and contain sources of variance other than achievement. Nonachievement grading dimensions may relate to beliefs about learning and instruction, which are formed early and have effects on practice. We report the development and validation of the Survey of Unorthodox Grading Beliefs for teacher candidates and teachers. Individuals seeking licensure in teaching participated in survey research. Using confirmatory factor analysis ( n = 714), we found four latent factors related to management concerns, beliefs about effort, a success orientation, and general leniency. The internal structure was acceptable and further supported by external structural relationships. We found predicted relationships between dimensions of grading beliefs and other instructional and assessment perceptions such as attitudes about testing and constructivist teaching. The systematic nature of beliefs about grading has implications for research involving use of grades, as well as for teacher education and professional development.