Effort & Participation Grades

Effort grades are given for various aspects of the learning process and are used differently almost from teacher to teacher. Effort grades may be due to perceived participation, certain behaviors, homework completion, and so on. Typically, these behaviors do not factor into academic content mastery. There is a time and place for effort grades, however. Many school subjects, such as drama, physical education, band, or public speaking, require student participation for full learning (Wormeli, 2018). When this is the case, if we believe that a particular subject participation is gradable, then the standard of excellence for participation must be agreed upon. This might include willingness to participate, attentiveness, relevance and accuracy of comments, and use of proper resources. Teachers should create rubrics, checklists, or scales to help make expectations clear for reporting purposes.

Academic success and effort, behavior, and attendance are very highly correlated (Wormeli, 2018). Therefore, behavior assessment should be a part of the learning and feedback process. Behavior grades, which may include effort or participation grades, should be provided in the form of feedback. They should be provided separate from academic feedback and with as much specificity and objectivity as possible. Feedback for nonacademic factors such as behavior, attendance, and effort should be provided for students but should be kept separate from academic standards on a report card (Wormeli, 2018). Keeping these elements separate can make grades more meaningful to all stakeholders (Guskey, 2009).

Effort and participation should also be treated as a skill rather than a personality trait (Gillis, 2019). Shy students who always come to class prepared but may not participate in all class discussions, should not necessarily be penalized. Students should explicitly and systematically be taught the importance of coming to class prepared, discussing course material, peer editing, attending office hours, paying attention in class, and listening respectfully during discussion to name a few. When students are incentivized to improve multiple dimensions of their learning, not just their in-class behaviors, they see that participation is interconnected. These skills should be modeled and taught for students throughout all phases of their learning.