View in EDS

What Do I Have to Do to Get the Grade? How Examination Standards Interact with Learning, Teaching and the Curriculum

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: What Do I Have to Do to Get the Grade? How Examination Standards Interact with Learning, Teaching and the Curriculum
Language: English
Authors: Michelle Meadows, Stuart Cadwallader, Lena Gray, Jo-Anne Baird
Source: Review of Education. 2025 13(3).
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 24
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Scores, Academic Standards, Educational Attainment, Class Rank, Exit Examinations, Accountability, Assessment Literacy, Theory Practice Relationship, Praxis
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
DOI: 10.1002/rev3.70126
ISSN: 2049-6613
Abstract: Communicating national qualification standards clearly to learners and their teachers is crucial to raising standards. If people do not know what they must do to get the grade, then the qualification is providing poor information about what is considered valuable learning. Assessment scores (and grades) need to convey meaning about learners' knowledge and skills. Yet score meaning is obscure, which leads to frustration on the part of teachers and learners. How standards are conceived, and set, interacts with score meaning. In this article, we outline how the current system of setting standards for GCSEs and A-levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland--attainment-referencing--affects the clarity of grading standards. Attainment-referencing offers no single artefact to represent standards, as it is the product of an amalgam of evidence. This makes it difficult for learners and their teachers to derive score meaning from their assessment outcomes. We contrast this with other methods for setting and maintaining standards that have been suggested as better alternatives: norm- and criterion-referencing. Both, in their own ways, purport to offer greater clarity. However, norm-referencing does not relate directly to curriculum standards, but to learners' ranks with respect to a population. Criterion-referencing relates directly to the curriculum but operates better in theory than in practise--criteria can never be specified unproblematically because of the limits of language. Within the context of how standards are currently set and maintained, attainment-referencing, we suggest ways of better explaining the curriculum-related meaning of national qualification grades.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1491993
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: EJ1491993
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: What Do I Have to Do to Get the Grade? How Examination Standards Interact with Learning, Teaching and the Curriculum
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Michelle+Meadows%22">Michelle Meadows</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stuart+Cadwallader%22">Stuart Cadwallader</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lena+Gray%22">Lena Gray</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jo-Anne+Baird%22">Jo-Anne Baird</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Review+of+Education%22"><i>Review of Education</i></searchLink>. 2025 13(3).
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 24
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scores%22">Scores</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+Standards%22">Academic Standards</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Attainment%22">Educational Attainment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Class+Rank%22">Class Rank</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Exit+Examinations%22">Exit Examinations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Accountability%22">Accountability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Assessment+Literacy%22">Assessment Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Theory+Practice+Relationship%22">Theory Practice Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Praxis%22">Praxis</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+Kingdom%22">United Kingdom</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1002/rev3.70126
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 2049-6613
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Communicating national qualification standards clearly to learners and their teachers is crucial to raising standards. If people do not know what they must do to get the grade, then the qualification is providing poor information about what is considered valuable learning. Assessment scores (and grades) need to convey meaning about learners' knowledge and skills. Yet score meaning is obscure, which leads to frustration on the part of teachers and learners. How standards are conceived, and set, interacts with score meaning. In this article, we outline how the current system of setting standards for GCSEs and A-levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland--attainment-referencing--affects the clarity of grading standards. Attainment-referencing offers no single artefact to represent standards, as it is the product of an amalgam of evidence. This makes it difficult for learners and their teachers to derive score meaning from their assessment outcomes. We contrast this with other methods for setting and maintaining standards that have been suggested as better alternatives: norm- and criterion-referencing. Both, in their own ways, purport to offer greater clarity. However, norm-referencing does not relate directly to curriculum standards, but to learners' ranks with respect to a population. Criterion-referencing relates directly to the curriculum but operates better in theory than in practise--criteria can never be specified unproblematically because of the limits of language. Within the context of how standards are currently set and maintained, attainment-referencing, we suggest ways of better explaining the curriculum-related meaning of national qualification grades.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1491993
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1491993
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1002/rev3.70126
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 24
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Scores
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Academic Standards
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Attainment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Class Rank
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Exit Examinations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Accountability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Assessment Literacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Theory Practice Relationship
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Praxis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: United Kingdom
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: What Do I Have to Do to Get the Grade? How Examination Standards Interact with Learning, Teaching and the Curriculum
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Michelle Meadows
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Stuart Cadwallader
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Lena Gray
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Jo-Anne Baird
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 12
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 2049-6613
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 13
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Review of Education
              Type: main
ResultId 1