May 9, 2012 : CE Topic - Do Students Really Need Letter Grades?

Schools gives grades to students: A, B, C+, C-, C, I, and F. Everyone knows what those letters mean. Every parent wants to be cocky and tell other parents that his or her child is “a straight A student,” “at the top of her class,” or “on the honor roll.” And what generally determines this prized status?  Letter grades.

Report cards have been a part of education all over the world for many years. They are a way to fill parents in on the progress of their child’s success in school. Many parent don't need a letter grade or phone call or message for them to know how well their child is doing in school. But some do. Right now, the teachers and administrators at schools are taking a closer look at report cards, and some schools are looking to get rid of letter grades once and for all. Report cards often include a list of subjects, work habits, and conduct areas followed by the letter grade the child has gotten in each area. Schools may require a teacher to attach a comment, or many comments, and these comments vary in length and thoroughness.

Some schools have stopped using letter grades all together, but instead, reporting progress through meetings, messages, or phone-calls. These non-letter grade schools often have guidelines for teachers to ensure that all subjects and areas are noted in these meetings/messages/phone-calls. In trying to determine what best fits  school’s philosophy and population, the school board have begun to study the need of letter grades. This study has started a conversation about what we truly believe about assessments and letter grades. In many school currently, assessment is part of a skill serving as part of the learning process.

According to people in the study, the purpose of assessment is to assess a student’s level of understanding, behaviour, work habits, and should be able to provide feed-back in the future. I agree with these views, and we tend to do a lot of  assessment in our class. However, I have never stopped to think whether letter grades on a report card would effect with assessments and evaluations, whether it is for another student, or a self assessment/evaluation. Many other teachers have thought of this as well, for THEY are the ones instructing us to "evaluate" or "assess".

The goal, some teachers say, is to focus on what students are learning, the skills they are picking up and the learning behaviors they are showing along the way. Instead of averaging scores and using these scores to assign a letter grade. Focusing on meeting expectations instead of posting scores will allow teachers to focus more on the students’ work habits, behaviour, achievements, and goals. Students are less likely to become frustrated and mad as they fall behind, or get a bad letter grade that they won't want to show to their parents, and instead can build up on their own progress and they move through lessons, units and grade levels with more ease.

To end this topic in a positive way, students who are lucky enough to be in schools, unlike the other kids around the world, where they don’t get letter grades or number grades, and are more likely to want to continue exploring whatever they’re learning, more likely to want to challenge themselves, and more likely to think deeply. The evidence on all of these effects is quite clear, and it seems to apply to students of all ages.

So should we keep letter grades? Well, that's for the school board to figure out and decide. But make a decision of your own, tell yourself what you think, think about it again, and decide your answer. You'd be surprised at your own words sometimes. Once you have the answer, tell me in the comment section below, since you all have to comment sooner or later. And we can all compare answers. Thanks for reading this, it took me a while, but it's okay, it was fun in a way. Buh-Bye!

Links I used to help me

http://www.toledoblade.com/Op-Ed-Columns/2012/04/01/TPS-can-t-be-reduced-to-a-letter-grade.html
http://www.helium.com/debates/81258-should-grading-be-abolished-in-college-and-university-courses/side_by_side?page=2
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Grades_Any_Good/