Let’s be honest: I hate grades. I hate the way they make me feel as though I’m assigning value to a student’s thoughts and dreams and words. I hate they way they make me feel like a strict judge, passing a verdict upon some fool who forgot to pay his parking tickets. The penalties are harsh, the guilt, well, harsh also. I know I cannot always be easy on my students, because some students will take advantage of that, but goodness me: do the penalties have to be so hurtful?
Picture a student, a girl with a flair for creative writing, pouring her heart and soul into a piece of work. She works on it for hours at a time, crafting turns of phrase that make her feel as though she is playing God. She builds settings, moods, characters, each detail a piece of her scratched out onto the page. She turns in the assignment, so proud of her work, so excited that she can taste the A that is sure to come. A week later the day arrives as papers are handed back to their origins. At the top of the page, in ink the color of the blood she felt drain from her face, a C is emblazoned. The C for Confusion, for Could-Be-Better, for Crappy work stares up at her. She takes a peek at the comments at the back of the assignment and finds only criticism of grammatical errors, sentence fragments and such. Her brainchild, her baby, was only worthy of a C.
Can you imagine how that student felt about that grade? I know because that’s something that happened all too often for me. I feel as though grading in that manner is demoralizing, that it squashes the creativity that we as teachers claim to admire.
I’m a bigger fan of assessment, leaving behind helpful notes like so many crumbs leading the way home. I prefer helping to shape a student’s thought process. I enjoy offering my opinion on subjects for certain students to work on a bit more, giving my thoughts a place on the page alongside theirs.
I know in the American education system grades are a must-have, at least in the eyes of the powers that be. Are they really necessary? I feel that in an ideal world I could offer guidance without penalty, that I could teach without dousing the flames of inspiration. I would like my students to feel comfortable bringing their work to me for help or even just to have me as a sounding board without fearing that I am mentally giving them a grade. I know how hurtful it is to receive a grade that is lower than what I expected, how useless I felt as a student and wish to spare my future students that heartache (and that sense of panic when they realize their GPA will reflect the grade).
So where do these intersect? How can I possibly grade a paper when all I really want to do is offer help and guide the student along the path to becoming a better writer? Can grades be an incentive for students?
Assigning grades to students’ papers is terrifying and something I never want to do. However, you are right in saying that the school systems require them, so there is no way to get around that. On the other hand, I want to say this is where grading for completion comes in. I am not sure how feasible this is for all assignments, but I think grading students based on turning in drafts with revision works better. This would also promote reflective assessment and have the focus on revision rather than grades. Students would have to show that they revised, and the grade would be based on the effort made in completing the assignment. As we discussed in class, there is a difference between revision and editing. The student would need to show revision rather than surface editing. Ideally, for all assignments, it would be fantastic to be able to grade this way, but sometimes, this may not be realistic.
I’m actually kind of on the flipside of this as a student. I like grades. More than that I feel like they help motivate me. I’m not getting an education and shelling out thousands (!!!) of dollars to walk out with a piece of paper listing A’s with no knowledge garnered; however, I’d be lying if I admitted that there have been certain assignments that I would have put in less than the desired work were it not for my desire to get the A. Sometimes we burn out – we are human after all and as students subject to a never-ending onslaught of assignments, readings, tests, papers, and (sometimes worst of all) class discussions (dun dun DUN).
In the case of my having received bad grades I think to some extent I do feel that disappointment and unease – sometimes downright indignation. I actually had an experience with this earlier in the semester. You know what I realized though? It made me work harder, question my approach, and overall *assess myself*. It took one harsh grade and a conference with the teacher to make sure I was on the same wavelength to ensure I started performing at my capable level.
While I definitely agree with both of you regarding assessment being more valuable and enriching than grading, I can’t help but defend the institution itself. I think especially in the case of writing, which is process-oriented, that revision and participation processes should not only be emphasized but an essential part of the student-teacher development. And while I agree the main goal should be to take a student from Point A to Point B, I also feel like there should be a relatively similar standard (yes, I did use that word). I think people like us who are taking this class and being made aware of concepts like ZPD can agree that every student is at their own level and our goal is to help them improve that no matter where they start and where the end up but I have to question. But what about their future classes? They are bound to end up with a teacher who isn’t aware or is unwilling to enforce these concepts for whatever reason. Should we – at least to an extent – try and force students to be at a minimum standard level? Even at the risk of “punishing” them with bad grades? And if they go into a class where a teacher is expecting everyone to be at the same level and they are well below that level even if they improved greatly is it not to their deficit, emotionally and academically, that we didn’t prepare them for a system that often times does function in that manner?
I agree with Amber – I like getting grades. However, I also like receiving constructive criticism. To me, having the former without the latter makes no sense. Students should always have the chance to improve on their work. Like Lindsey, I am also in favor of the approach of grading based on completion. The old adage of an “A for effort” would ring true. I think that if a student attempts to improve, then it will be obvious over a few drafts. If they do not put in the work, then they won’t get that A for effort. I think we are all trying to make hard-and-fast rules for how to assess when, in reality, it will probably change based on what kind of system we are in, as Brittany pointed out.
In Amber’s case, it seems like the grade led to more assessment. My first semester here, I had a professor give me an A on my first paper and a C on my last. She told me that she shouldn’t have given me the first A. Honestly, I can’t recall if I worked harder on that second paper or not. What matters is that after that, I worked harder to prove myself to her AND to myself – as in, “I’m better than that.” Not all students are going to be so receptive to criticism or resilient when faced with what they perceive to be a bad grade. What do we do with the students that are never satisfied?
Ah, the wonderful topic of grading! I have mixed emotions regarding the grading system. I often say that I wish there were no grades, but at the same time, just like Amber, I realize that sometimes (depending on the subject) grades motivate me. I know that some people think I am too hung up on grades, but they pushed me to move forward when I was ready to give up.
I also agree with Virginia: lower grades are not going to motive every students. For examples, I had a student today in the writing center who got a low grade. She said she was thinking about dropping the class because she wasn’t getting the grades she expected.
Brittany, I think it’s important to approach grading creative and formal/scholar assignments differently. For creative assignments, sentence fragments sometimes work, and probably they should be there. I am sorry you had such experience, but that probably taught you how not to assess creative assignments.
I was having a conversation with a student today about how, by and large, students who make it to college are those who have had success within the “traditional” educational system. They are, for the most part, accustomed to being graded and expect it, even welcome it. However, what about those students who are not like us? Take a look at what Alfie Kohn has to say about rewards, including grades.
Brittany, I’m in the same boat. I worry about finding the middle ground when assessing and grading. Dr. Nail makes a good point in referencing Kohn, who believes in creating a classroom that encourages students’ willingness to learn. Students who consistently make A’s get accustomed to that, and there is the potential for them to not try as hard if they know they’ll make a good grade. Their intrinsic motivation is what will get them the grade they want and ultimately deserve. One of my main concerns is being seemingly too lenient in grading if I grade my students on progress; when they move on to the next class/teacher, as Amber mentioned, they don’t receive the grades they expected due to different assessing and grading methods. I feel like rubric-based grading can serve as a good model for students. If the rubric is explained to them properly, they understand the amount of points they will earn based on effort. Having a separate rubric for drafts could be helpful in that students can see where they need to be in their writing in the first draft, how they should be able to improve the second draft, and so on. Starting small, with basic rules for the first draft (maybe a blind-eye to grammar and mechanics but emphasis on getting thoughts on paper), and working toward more complex skill in later drafts (polishing the argument, then the aesthetics) could show students a clearer picture of the writing process. If they are worried over the grade they could receive for not getting everything right, starting small like this can show them which areas are most important. The final grade on the paper could be a reflection of the total progress students have made in their work. Again, marked clearly on a rubric, students will know what is expected of them to reach this final goal. The “benchmarks” along the way can also help them see where they need the most improvement, possibly motivating them to work harder on certain areas.
This is just an idea I’ve been bouncing around for a while, and I’m not sure how effective it would be. I want my students to want to learn, but I know that’s probably not possible for everyone. Finding a happy medium between assessing students’ progress and grading students’ work, though, could make a big difference in students’ intrinsic motivation to do well.
[...] Dr. Nail made a comment about Alfie Kohn on Brittany’s post, I revisited an interview with Kohn I had read for another course. It’s definitely worth [...]