What do grades mean?
A few weeks back I spent a lot of time at the skating rink at our annual skating competition. There were parents from a variety rinks in attendance. The conversation in the stands was not only about skating but about grades. I few moms were sharing about the report cards that had just come out and were comparing ‘war’ stories. As an educator my ears picked up and I joined in.
From the discussion I heard the typical comments.
So and so is a tough grader.
That teacher is easy.
No one gets an A in that class.
Even though I have been an educator for over 20 years I still have many questions surrounding grades. What do we grade? Is it mastery of the standards? Are grades a mixture of compliance and successful demonstration of knowledge? Do the grades from one teacher mean the same as another? Are they just a snap shot in time?
I know of some teachers who value HW at 20% and others as high as 50%. Some teachers provide a detailed syllabus with grading standards and expectations. These syllabi do not follow the report card or transcript with the child. How should we interpret what the grade represents.? Some schools use a standards based report cards. What happens if you have mastered the standards early on? Other schools give letter grades. Some schools have a school wide grading policy and others let each teacher determine the policy.
We recognize the wide difference in how we grade yet we describe our students and children as a B student or a C student. In Massachusetts we are busy realigning our curriculum to the new core standards, maybe we should also take the time to have conversations about how we assess student learning.
What are your thoughts on grading?
2 thoughts on “What do grades mean?”
I teach adult learners, so my ideas on grading may be a bit different. My grade book is divided into categories that are each weighted differently and equal 100% of the total grade. The exams are worth the most and considered the most effective forms of formative and summative evaluation. There are other categories and assignments to consider, but one has to be careful that these categories are not weighted too heavily as to artificially inflate a grade. Personally, I don’t think it is fair to pass a student in a course if they can’t make a passing grade on an exam. It would be unwise to pass a student with failing exam grades, but a passing grade in the course because of the weight of other projects and assignments. This is actually a bigger issue than one might expect, and an issue we are bringing to the table in our nursing program.
I also think it is vital to list all of your grading policies in your syllabus so students understand what is expected of them at the very beginning of the course. Each instructor in our program has the right to create assignments for assessment of grades, but these syllabi are reviewed by our Department Chair. It is our policy to assess students individually, and we do offer remediation for certain course content in order to help students meet learning objectives. There are also certain issues with remediation. For instance, my policy is that the first test grade goes into the grade book, but if the student fails the exam they are offered remediation which will help them in future course work.
I am currently working on my masters and have had different professors give us lectures on what grade3s mean. each lecture I came away with a different answer to what greades really mean to a students education. i know i am still new to the educational world but to have different points of view on what a grade means in education can really discourage a young teacher entering the field. after reading your blog i can honestly say i agree with your opinion and views on grades. it has given me a direction that i may model in my classroom in the future.