ABSTRACT
Research reports that levels and grades tend to have a saccharine effect on the self-esteem of those who are usually judged to do better than their peers and to demoralise those who are judged often to do worse than their peers. Levels and grades are compressed, coded versions of assessment criteria. They summarise qualities of performance and place them on a scale. They belong to summative assessments. The challenge for you as a teacher is to promote and model intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation and satisfaction. To achieve this, the teacher and his colleagues have to work on enabling pupils to internalise the purposes and audiences for their work and to subordinate their interest in levels and grades to their wanting to achieve standards they set themselves and recognise as valid. It is suggested that, if teachers want their pupils to take notice of teacher's marking and feedback, it is better not to give them levels or grades.
