An examination of high school assessment and grading practices within a professional learning community

Discussing assessment and grading practices with colleagues is a challenging task for teachers. In fact, most teachers have received very little training in developing assessment and grading practices, yet most believe that they should have complete autonomy in developing their practices. This dissertation is a qualitative case study that investigated a discipline team of seven English I high school teachers as they worked together in a professional learning community (PLC) environment in order to create a common grading system. This study followed the work of the teachers for two semesters as they investigated best practices for assessment and grading and then implemented a common grading system. The following questions drove the research: (1) How do teachers initially feel as they address assessment and grading practices within a PLC? (2) What challenges do teachers face as they work in a PLC to address assessment and grading practices? (3) How do teachers decide if their experimentation with assessment and grading practices was successful? (4) How do teachers feel after addressing assessment and grading practices within a PLC?;Over the course of the two semesters, each teacher was interviewed three times and the researcher observed four team meetings. The significance of this qualitative study is that it provides insight into how teachers within a PLC environment participate in collective inquiry and experimentation to implement best practices in grading. In addition, this study investigated the challenges that teachers face when working as a PLC to address the difficult issues of assessment and grading. This dissertation also provides recommendations for PLCs that are considering revising their assessment and grading practices.