Secondary School-Based Leaders' Preferred Grading Practices and the Impact of their Preferred Grading Practices on their Respective Schools

The practice of grading students based on classroom performance has existed for centuries. Grading practices can look different depending on the division, school, or department. This study looked at lived experiences of school-based leaders around their preferred grading systems, how their preferences changed over time, and the impact their experiences and preferences had on the grading practices in their school building. School-based leaders were of interest because of the indirect impact they can have on teachers' grading practices (Hattie, 2012). Pre-service training around grading practices is minimal, leading educators to default to what they themselves experienced in schools. This can lead to negative outcomes for students as grading systems in use may measure more than just student achievement. The Transcendental Phenomenological methodology was utilized to gather data on school-based leaders' lived experiences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with nine school-based leaders from rural, suburban, and urban areas within the Commonwealth of Virginia. This study found that traditional grading practices continued to dominate in public education and that practitioners are rarely provided professional development or knowledge on alternative grading practices. Colleges and universities should create coursework around grading practices for future practitioners and school divisions and schools should provide professional development around research-based grading practices for all practitioners.