Grading in physical education: Exploring teachers’ experiences and reflections on the increase in top grades among upper secondary school students in Norway

Abstract

Recent research in physical education (PE) has demonstrated continued challenges related to instructional alignment, transparency, and comparability in summative assessment. According to the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 75% of students in their final year of upper secondary school were awarded top grades (5 or 6) as part of the summative assessment in Norwegian PE, regardless of study program (i.e. vocational or academic) or gender. This article investigates how upper secondary PE teachers experience grading and reflect on the increase in top grades within Norwegian PE. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of eight focus groups comprising 42 PE teachers. Drawing on two curriculum enactment models, we found that PE teachers experienced challenges in interpreting the PE curriculum and that these challenges were translated into their grading practices. The findings indicate that, when teachers face insufficient support in translating the PE curriculum, while also negotiating students’ unrealistic expectations of high grades during teacher–student interactions, they experience considerable pressure on their grading practices. This pressure is further reinforced by the time-pressurized working conditions in PE. Ultimately, many of the PE teachers choose the “path of least resistance” by awarding higher grades than they believe students’ actual competence warrants or develop personal rationales or alternative criteria to justify grades independent of national curricula.