Perspectives
What We Learn from Grades
Even after many years, I know that I can get a rise out of my sister with the mention of one
dents needed to compete for a limited
schools do and provide separate marks
number of As. Only the very best papers for progress (improvement from the
deserved the best grade, I thought at
last performance); process (effort and
phrase: run-on sentences. Her memory the time. I also was once so angry about timeliness); and product (achievement
of getting an F because she, a National
Merit semifinalist, had omitted one
what I saw as cheating that I made
two students who turned in virtually
of standards)?
Once you study the research about
punctuation mark in an otherwise out-
the same paper split one grade. Their
grading—and this issue of EL is cer-
standing essay can make her furious.
sincere belief was that they had learned tainly a good start—the work of com-
She’s not the only one to have experi- more while working together than they municating the purpose and method of
enced a grading practice that, intended would have alone.
your system begins. It is wise to state
to deliver one lesson, actually produced
This issue about effective grading
the purpose of your grading system on
quite a different effect—namely, a long- practices delves into the relationship
the report card itself, and to commu-
lasting dismay about the
between learning and
nicate often and well with families, our
remembers receiving a note
sent home that said that
her daughter could earn a
higher grade if she bought
her a $70 costume to wear
at an assembly. She didn’t
buy it, and her daughter
did fine.
arbitrariness of grades.
authors note.
Amy, for example,
Brookhart (p.; 10) writes,
As we move forward in developing
educators tend to assume
standards-based grading systems, we
that others agree with their might be erring on the side of too much
positions on grading, but,
information, Thomas Guskey (p.; 16)
in fact, educators hold a
warns. For example although most
range of opinions. Some
educators know what “phonemic under-
believe in grading on effort standing” implies, not as many parents
and punctuality and on
do. “To see grading and reporting
using grades to foster both more as a challenge in effective com-
a work ethic and academic munication than as one of simply docu-
5th grader, his grade was discouraging
learning. Others believe that grades
menting or quantifying achievement
enough to make him stop working
should reflect only where students are
seems to be a major requirement in
hard, only to find later that the teacher
in relation to mastering specific content reform efforts today.”
had mistakenly recorded a B- when she or skills.
There is no doubt that our society
meant to write a B+. He didn’t exactly
Parents and family members have
believes in grades. We look for four-star
waste the next semester, but he could
multiple views on grading as well, with movies, five-star restaurants, top- 10 col-
have learned much more, he notes.
many viewing grades as indicators of
leges, and even Grade A eggs. Although
And Katie recalls that her haiku was
awarded a C because it wasn’t about
their child’s status in the class. Stu-
dents, on the other hand, often regard
we tend to think of these ratings as
objective, we know that it’s important
Japan. (The teacher hadn’t mentioned
grades as the ultimate mystery. When
to read the full reviews—and look for
that it had to be about Japan.) After she asked what grade they think they will
cracks in the shells. This issue explores
built a case that her poem about the
get, “I don’t know” is a frequently given both the promising practices and the
sun was really alluding to the Land of
the Rising Sun, her teacher relented and
answer.
That’s why, as a number of our
cracks in our grading systems.
Most of us agree that if grades are
gave her an A. The lesson she learned:
authors note, before a school attempts
going to be meaningful, they must be
Questioning the grade was a good way
to make changes to report cards, it must as accurate and fair as possible. The
to get it raised, whether the reasoning
consider the purposes that the grades
question before us is, How do we make
was appropriate or not.
will serve. Are the grades meant to be
When I myself was a teacher, I
remember defending some of my
own strongly held grading prac-
tices—arguing, for instance, that stu-
What elements will be graded? Can the
same reporting tool have many pur-
poses, or is it better to do what many
that happen?
incentives, feedback, or an evaluation?
