grading and assessment

How do you decide on a grade?  What, for you is exactly the difference between 88% and 89%?  Between 99% and 100%?  Or, more importantly, from the students point of view, the difference between passing-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth (where I work, that's 70%) and failing?

Do you see a problem with a pass grade of 50% or 60% or 70% (depending on where you work)?  Does it make sense to pass a course when you haven't understood over a quarter of the material? 

What if the test doesn't measure things right?  For example, students may fail a grammar-based exam even when they obviously have good speaking skills.  Or vice versa.

I spent a month last week arguing over how to test students' levels of English and none of it made sense to me: why should students be given 2 hours to answer questions that have nothing to do with their field of interest.  Yet those questions are written by experts who claim that their standardized tests are objective and impartial and can accurately measure and predict a student's curent and future level of English.  Why "predict"?  Because the law is requiring university students to pass this test when they have completed 60% of their degree.  That makes sense because it allows teachers in subsequent courses to assign readings and projects in English.  But it works on the assumption that by the time the students graduate, they will still remember all of their English.  I would seriously doubt that if all they did was pull an all-nighter the day before the exam.

I'm arguing for a project-based system of assessment worth (are you ready for it?) either 100% or 0%.  All or nothing.

Shocked?

Here's the logic: a project (a story, a video, a demonstration of a skill, etc.) can be done over a period of time which means the student can prove what he or she can actually do with the language (which, if you'll notice is how the levels of the Common European Framework are phrased: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages)
They use the language as it is intended: to communicate something of interest to the speaker.  Either they can do this within an acceptable measure for the level they are trying to achieve according to a panel of judges, or they can't.  It's a simple as that.  There's no 76% or whatever (un puntito mas profe, por fis!) 

The beauty is that this can (and, in my humble opinion, should) apply at any level from kindergarten to university and beyond.  Wanna see what students can do?  Let them show you!