There has been a lot of talk recently about the transition to standard based grading in American schools. Many countries around the work, that rank higher than the United States, use this form of grading. I have some experience with it (one of the teachers that I student taught with used it), but I am not totally sure how I feel about it. I learned lots in that 7 ½ weeks- but I still think that I came away with more questions than answers about SBG.
I can totally understand the rational behind it. Grades are subjective. They factor in many different things other than just if the student has learned the required materials. Many teachers, myself included, count off late points if an assignment is not done on time. I have struggled with this myself. Why am I taking off points? Well, because they did not get it done on time and handed in. I am trying to teach responsibility and the need to get things done when they are due. In life, you have to be accountable and I am trying to instill that.
However, does the grade that they are receiving on that assignment represent their ability on that content area? In most cases, no. They have lost points based on when they turned it in. I am no longer assessing their ability on the skill- but rather their ability to hand in materials on time. Isn't the idea to assess the ability of the student with regards to their content knowledge?
How late do you allow students to turn in materials? If I take away points, they want to turn in assignments right away so they will get full credit. If I don't take away late points, do I allow them to turn in assignments 2 weeks late? 2 months? I see it as a slippery slope. On the other hand, I also see it as a more true representation of their ability with the content.
Obviously, I am torn on even this issue. I can see both sides of the issue..and for me, I seem to fall on the take away points.
Anyways, I have gotten way off task. (I tend to ramble nonsense in these blog posts) If grades are subjective, why not just try and take away the subjectivity? English might be one of the most subjective subjects that there is. I try and always have rubrics available for my students- this way they know exactly what it is that I am looking for, even before they start the assignment/paper. This will take away some objectivity, but it will not totally take away the "opinion" of the teacher. I am not saying that teachers are not able to make these judgements- they did go to school for that- but why not take away some of the "favorite" games that you hear so much.
Standards based grading would make it much easier for teachers to tie in their lessons to the Core. What they would be assessing would be the same thing that they were required to teach by the state/gov't. It would also allow students in different cities and states to be taught the same thing at the same time. Obviously, this is also what the goal of the Common Core is. However, there are differences between the two- that I will save for a different blog post.
One of the biggest qualms that I have about SBG is the terminology that is used with where students sit. Most scales range from "not meeting" to "mastery" with point totals that correspond from 1-4. I have an issue with any student having "mastered" material. To me, there is always room for growth, in anything. There are very few things that I have mastered, truly. Maybe there is other terminology that can be used that I have just not heard of, but I would be much more comfortable with other terms.
Also, I am not sure how well students and parents would be able to adjust to not having letter grade. Students and parents are so driven by having an "A". Does that always mean that they have mastered the material? Absolutely not. However, it does mean that they are able to do what is needed to reach their goal. Are students going to be become less motivated because those "hard working" students are not going to be able to study and work their way to the grade that they want?
On the other side of the issue- what about the student that is unmotivated but understands the material. With SBG, they would receive high marks because they are abler to demonstrate their understand- is that fair to the student who does all their work, all the time, but school is harder for? Maybe even better question, do we compare students too much? Are we holding students against each other because that is what an "A" student looks like and that over there is what a "D" student looks like. Shouldn't we be assessing each student independently?
These are just some of the many questions that I don't have an answer for. I think that the idea could be a great one. However, at this point, I have many more questions than answers.
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