What is behind a grade?: Greek primary school teachers' descriptions of their grading criteria and practices

Historically, research on grading, ie the allocation of marks by teachers to pupils has shown that it represents an assessment of both the academic and non academic characteristics of pupils. Recent research examining teacher grading criteria and practices, shows that little has changed. The present study investigates the grading criteria and practices of Greek primary school teachers . Interviews with 17 teachers investigated the extent to which the legislation regarding grading is implemented by teachers, and the possible criteria that they believe they use in grading. The analysis of the interviews showed that teachers' grading was affected not only by the academic attainment of pupils, but also by non academic factors including the overall picture of pupils' academic attainment assessed by tests, classroom participation and homework, pupils' families, linguistic level, intelligence and motivation, pupils' behaviour, teachers' personal likes of some pupils, pupils' differential attainment in different subjects, pupils self perception of attainment, and local school factors. Different teachers' grading was influenced to a different degree by these factors. On the basis of the interviews a questionnaire was devised to enable a larger sample to be studied. 472 primary teachers of both genders, working in different geographical areas of Greece, with different levels of experience and education completed the questionnaire. Its analysis showed the extent to which they were influenced by the criteria elicited in the interviews, and the differences between them. Factor analysis of the questionnaire confirmed the interview findings, and enabled the development of a possible model of the factors influencing grading, which may be used as the basis for explaining teachers' actual grading practices as opposed to their beliefs about them