Grading Principles: Identifying the Incorrect Statement

Loyd & Loyd established four key principles for effective grading systems. Understanding these principles helps in evaluating the suitability and fairness of any grading approach.

Loyd & Loyd's Grading Principles

• Clarity and Understandability: The grading system must be easy for students and others to comprehend.
• Fairness and Equity: Grades should be awarded impartially, without bias related to gender, class, race, or socio-economic status.
• Communication: The grading system and its criteria must be clearly communicated to all involved parties (students, parents, etc.).
• Purposefulness: The grading system should serve a clear and relevant educational purpose.

Analysis of Options

Let's examine the given options against Loyd & Loyd's principles:

• Option 1: 'The system of grading should be clear and understandable' - This aligns directly with the first principle.
• Option 2: 'Grades should be distributed to match a pre-determined normal curve' - This describes a specific grading strategy (like bell curve grading) but is not one of Loyd & Loyd's fundamental principles. Their principles focus on the *characteristics* of a good system, not a specific distribution method.
• Option 3: 'Grading should be fair regardless of gender, class, race or socio-economic status' - This aligns directly with the principle of fairness and equity.
• Option 4: 'The system of grading should be communicated to all stakeholders' - This aligns directly with the principle of communication.

Therefore, the statement that is not one of Loyd & Loyd's four principles of grading is the one suggesting grades should match a pre-determined normal curve.

Conclusion

The statement that does not belong to Loyd & Loyd's four principles of grading is that grades should be distributed to match a pre-determined normal curve.