A Third Way - Mixed Methods Approaches to the Assessment of Learning

Lately there have been a lot of posts and tweets about how the abolition of grades (marks) could improve student learning. These arguments normally focus on the difficulty of using quantitative measures to assess student learning. The upshot being that qualitative measures are the only valid approach to the assessment of student learning. This argument is very reminiscent of the arguments in social science around the validity of quantitative versus qualitative research methods. As in the case of those heated debates we need to tone down the rhetoric and recognise the value in different approaches to assessment. 

Part of the reason for the vociferous attacks being made on measuring student achievement using grades is the focus, to the exclusion of all other methods, of the accountability movement on quantitative measures of student achievement. To over emphasis on grades as the sole measure of student achievement have led some to conclude that grades (numbers) are not a valid measure of student learning. This is unfortunate. There are many circumstances - measuring a specific knowledge attainment or skill development - in which a number grade, percentage mark etc could be a valid indication a specific learning. Of course, if this is all you relied upon as an indication of student learning you would be doing your students a injustice. The mark will not provide a whole picture of the student's learning. 

However, what needs to be remembered is that qualitative methods cannot tell the whole story either. Each method is suited to different learning and teaching situations. And therein lies the rub, the arguments of the no grades and the accountability movements are actually about different approaches to teaching and learning. With both sides claiming their approach is the panacea that will save our students and public education. 

The problem is that neither approach has proven to be the panacea it claims to be. Perhaps there is a third way that honours both approaches. In research, the blending of quantitative and qualitative research methods is known as mixed methods. When done by experience practitioners, mix method research carefully balances the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches to accurately tell more of the story than using a single approach can. Educators can use the same mixed method approaches in their assessment practice. 

An example of how this approach can be used effectively is the Ontario Elementary report card. When properly completed this report card provides both quantitative and qualitative information on the student's achievement. The connection between grades and comments in the report card needs to be explicit. The grades and comments need to be based on a philosophy of providing a foundation for further learning NOT a final judgement. The report card should seek to describe both process and product. of course this should mean that teachers are observing, providing feedback on, and reporting on process throughout the school year, not just on reports. While the Ontario Elementary report card may not be perfect, it at least attempts to strike a balance between quantitative and qualitative assessment. 

Work certainly needs to continue on educating parents, students, and teachers about how it is "not all about grades", but abandoning quantitative  measures in favour of qualitative measures is a mistake. It is time for educators to come together and think deeply about how we can use mixed methods approaches to assessment to improve student learning. 

Reflective Questions

As I wrote this article some questions, as always, sprung to mind.

If one accepts that there is parental and student attachment to grades is there some intrinsic human need for external recognition by the "community" through some means or is this something imposed and made intrinsic by the system?

Is there a correlation between one's teaching practice/philosophy and their support for either quantitative or qualitative approaches?