Alternative Grading System: Using a Pass/Fail Final

An alternative grading system that has caught on in many school districs is the administration of pass/fail final exams. In fact, proficiency exams, administered in most states, uses a pass/fail alternative grading system to determine whether or not a student graduates.

A Pass/fail final is just as it sounds. It is an assessment in which students either pass or fail, and they are awarded either a P for a passing score or a F for a failing score.

With final averages on the line, students come into exams with a lot of frustration and test anxiety. Many students know that they have to do well to improve their averages or just to maintain their averages. Using this type of assessment, students feel less frustration and know that their exam has little, if any, bearing on their grade as long as their work is satisfactory.

Students typically have to demonstrate knowledge of the skills that were taught during the semester, so it is a fairly comprehensive assessment. As students have studied the concepts over the course of nine or eighteen weeks, they have confidence in their abilities, and since grades are not really a factor, they bring a level of confidence into the testing situation. The exam is pretty laid back as students have little to worry about and do not have to stress out over a 100 question true/false test, etc.

Besides easing the anxiety that students feel, teachers find that they have more time on their hands as grading this type of assessment goes fairly quickly. Teachers tend to set up a rubric and grade according to that rubric.

Students are given the assignment to write an expository essay in which they must explain how to peel an orange. As long as students make an attempt, tell how to peel an orange, and use correct punctuation, there is no reason why the student should not do well.

My rubric states that if students make more than three major punctuation errors, then they receive a failing grade. I give students the highest possible failing grade, which is a 64/F.