I just finished grading a test for one of my classes. The grades ranged from 37 to 88....should I scale them?
The range is probably less important than other measures. For starters, take a look at WHAT they got wrong. Should they have gotten those answers wrong? Was it material that you know you taught, and taught well? Or, in looking back, can you kind of see how and why they made the errors they did? Was the test too long to give them time to reallly think about their errors? What else was going on the night before-- did something contribute to their inability to do well (say a mandatory school concert)?? Look at the median-- the score received by the "middle" kid in your class. That's a decent measure--it doesn't account for the super bright, the super slow, or anything else. So if one kid got that 37 and every other kid got a grade in the 80's, the median will show you that. For what it's worth, on those occasions when I've given too hard a test, here's how I've curved: 20 + (0.8 * the grade.) So your 37 would become a 57-- still failing, and your 88 would become a 90. It reallly gives the most help to those who need the most, and doesn't give anyone more than 100%
I only scale a test if there were problems on the test that the majority of student got wrong because I did not teach it well enough or because it was not a good question.
We do standards-based grading, so I never scale a test. I do look at what they got wrong, and I reteach anything that they didn't seem to get. Then I regive a test.
I typically give my tests for ap a scale. A 30 question quiz may be 2 or 3 points off for each question instead of a direct percent. A 15 question pop quiz may be 5 off instead off about 7. Was there one section of the test they didn't do well on? I had a quiz last week where my CP kids bombed the short answer question so I ended up making it worth 10 points instead of 20.
