Grades

To grade or no to grade, that is not the only question when it comes to grading public school students.  Some people feel that students learn more if not grades are not granted; others feel students must be graded or they will not work hard.  Both can find research supporting their opinions.  I believe that which method works best depends on the personality of the student and the relevance of whatever the subject is to the needs and desires of that student.

Many in education feel that the self-confidence and self-esteem of the student will be affected if the student's grades are not the best.  That is the primary reason for grade inflation.  The problem is that if all students are doing very well, often getting all As, how are future employers to determine which students have the skills they need?  I believe that each student has his/her own strengths and weaknesses and an employer has the right to expect an A student to be above average in that subject.  The school can ensure the self-esteem of the student by working hard to help students achieve the best they can in every subject area  and letting the student know that their work ethic in doing so is as valuable as the grade. 

As important as "to grade or to grade" option is whether or not all students should receive the same diploma.  These days students with special needs can get special help.  For instance, as student with dyslexia can have tests read aloud to them; students that are blind can have tests read to them; mainstreamed special education students can have tests read to them, etc.  This may actually give special needs students a leg up over regular students.  I know of one teacher who complained that the special education students in her classroom were having tests read aloud by a special education teacher.  That was okay, but these students were doing much better on tests that the rest of the class.  Upon investigation she found out that on multiple choice questions she was giving them 2 rather than 4 choices and on fill in the blank questions she gave them 2 choices.  Is that fair to the student, to the rest of the class and to the employer?  I also know of one dyslexic student decided on her own that even though she was entitled to have everything read to her, she would have to live in a world where she read in her own slow way and that she needed to work overtime to do the best she could on her own.  That student not only managed to become fluent enough by the time she arrived in college that she got almost all grades of A and but she has a very successful start to her career. 

My point here is that wherever possible I believe we need to urge and encourage students to work extra hard on their own and we will see spectacular results.  I think that students who automatically get to take the easy road will expect the easy road in the rest of their life, and that's not likely to be a good road.

So my solution is to grade and grade fairly but use the grades as a tool to help a student improve and work hard, not as proof that the student can't compete.