Date of Award

Spring 1-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Dr. Beth Kania-Gosche

Second Advisor

Mrs. Susan Doering

Third Advisor

Dr. Jeremy Mitchell

Abstract

Online gradebooks have gradually become a staple of schools in the 21st century. Students and parents have immediate access to grades, and the composition of these grades is transparent. While the purpose of the online gradebook may have initially been for the conveniences such systems offer the school and its stakeholders, it has also served as a catalyst for gradebook reform. Gradebook construction strategies have been called into question, and solutions which allow gradebooks to provide more accurate and specific information have been developed. This study explored student learning growth through the use of two different online gradebooks: a traditionally averaged gradebook and a standards-based gradebook. While the quantitative results of the study showed that students demonstrated a little more growth with an online standards-based gradebook than with an online traditional gradebook, the qualitative portion of this study explored student, parent, and teacher preferences for gradebook construction and suggested that online standards-based gradebooks may result in greater learning increases for students if they are consistently used. For instance, “organization and clarity benefits” were among the positives students referenced concerning the standards-based gradebooks. One student recognized the benefit such a gradebook may provide at final exam time, as the gradebook clearly showed the skills in which the student was strong and weak. Likewise, the parents also preferred the clarity of the standards-based gradebook. However, they also liked the traditionally averaged gradebook as it provided information they were familiar with and to which they could relate. iii ! The teacher input echoed thoughts of the students and parents. They liked the idea of the standards-based gradebook and could see how it helped students learn. However, they also recognized the great deal of work that may go into developing such a system for classroom use, and the great deal of work that may accompany such a system in day-today use. This ominous amount of work, they opined, would likely decrease once they used the system consistently, allowing results of this study to support that such a system can only work to its intended extent once it has been implemented and consistently practiced over multiple semesters.

Rights

Copyright 2014

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