Why is Grading an Issue?
![Picture](/uploads/7/9/1/6/79160730/6619507.jpg?289)
Joe Bower (2013) sparked my interest when he described the grading system as the “school’s drug of choice” to which we are all addicted (p. 7). Spend one day in any classroom and you will hear multiple students asking “what can I do to raise my grade?” At least three times a week, I receive an email from a parent asking how his or her child can get a better grade. It infuriates me.
The idea of grading brings up specific and intense feelings for anyone. For the high-achieving student, the overwhelming feeling of competition and self-worth; for the low-achieving student, the overwhelming feeling of failure; for the teacher, the feeling of being held to district mandates and overwhelming paperwork.
The argument has been made that grading systems are necessary for future employers to know what their workers can do and therefore what to pay them (Bishop, 1992). Historically, grades have been an attempt to eliminate the subjectivity in assessing student work (Simon, 1970). However, the question must be raised as to whether or not these are legitimate reasons for the traditional A-F grading system.
Many critics of traditional grading argue that it diminishes motivation and authentic learning because students are purely seeking out the shortest path to the highest grade. Efforts such as a narrative grades, Standards-Based Grades, and no grades have begun to grow in classrooms as an attempt to give authentic feedback instead of grades. However, are those truly achieving what they wish? Are those efforts cultivating students with that desire to grow? And, in the end, if we do not grade, what do we do?
Tweet it: Our schools are addicted to grading. If we do not detox now, where will we be in ten years? #drugfreeassessment
Bishop, John H. (March 1992). Why U.S. students need incentives to learn. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1. 1-5. doi: http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199203_bishop.pdf
Bower, J., & Thomas, P. L. (n.d.). Reduced to Numbers: From Concealing to Revealing Learning. In De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.youblisher.com/p/852611-Reduced-to-Numbers-by-Joe-Bower
Simon, S. B.. (1970). Grades Must Go. The School Review, 78(3), 397–402. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1084161
The idea of grading brings up specific and intense feelings for anyone. For the high-achieving student, the overwhelming feeling of competition and self-worth; for the low-achieving student, the overwhelming feeling of failure; for the teacher, the feeling of being held to district mandates and overwhelming paperwork.
The argument has been made that grading systems are necessary for future employers to know what their workers can do and therefore what to pay them (Bishop, 1992). Historically, grades have been an attempt to eliminate the subjectivity in assessing student work (Simon, 1970). However, the question must be raised as to whether or not these are legitimate reasons for the traditional A-F grading system.
Many critics of traditional grading argue that it diminishes motivation and authentic learning because students are purely seeking out the shortest path to the highest grade. Efforts such as a narrative grades, Standards-Based Grades, and no grades have begun to grow in classrooms as an attempt to give authentic feedback instead of grades. However, are those truly achieving what they wish? Are those efforts cultivating students with that desire to grow? And, in the end, if we do not grade, what do we do?
Tweet it: Our schools are addicted to grading. If we do not detox now, where will we be in ten years? #drugfreeassessment
Bishop, John H. (March 1992). Why U.S. students need incentives to learn. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1. 1-5. doi: http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_199203_bishop.pdf
Bower, J., & Thomas, P. L. (n.d.). Reduced to Numbers: From Concealing to Revealing Learning. In De-testing and de-grading schools: Authentic alternatives to accountability and standardization. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.youblisher.com/p/852611-Reduced-to-Numbers-by-Joe-Bower
Simon, S. B.. (1970). Grades Must Go. The School Review, 78(3), 397–402. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1084161