Table 1 Descriptive statistics of grading items used by secondary EFL teachers

1. Student effort-how much the student tried to learn

0

10

24

21

28

17

187

4.17

1.25

2. Class participation

2

11

23

13

37

14

187

4.14

1.34

3. Improvement of performance

1

7

32

15

31

14

185

4.10

1.25

4. Ability levels of the students

2

13

29

19

21

16

183

3.93

1.37

5. Quality of graded homework

3

8

28

26

24

11

185

3.92

1.24

6. Specific learning objectives mastered

1

18

23

22

25

11

185

3.84

1.32

7. Effort, improvement, behavior and other non-test factors for borderline cases

5

11

36

23

19

6

185

3.60

1.23

8. Academic performance as opposed to other factors

4

21

29

17

25

4

182

3.50

1.29

9. Completion of ungraded homework

5

13

33

29

16

4

184

3.50

1.20

10. Work habits and neatness

0.0

20

38

20

17

5

187

3.49

1.15

11. Performance compared to other students

6

20

32

20

19

3

183

3.36

1.25

12. Extra credit for academic performance

11

16

27

27

16

3

184

3.31

1.31

13. Performance compared to a set scale

14

19

31

12

20

4

183

3.19

1.41

14. Disruptive student behavior

10

26

29

13

18

4

183

3.16

1.37

15. School or district policy for grading

15

20

33

20

9

3

183

2.98

1.29

16. Performance compared to students from previous years

24

25

20

9

16

6

185

2.85

1.57

17. Inclusion of Zeros for incomplete assignment

20

23

34

10

13

0.0

187

2.75

1.28

18. Extra credit for nonacademic performance

26

25

27

14

7

1

184

2.55

1.27

19. Grade distributions of other teachers

28

26

25

11

7

3

187

2.52

1.36