I got an interesting discussion started by a Facebook post that I made early this morning. The post simply said: I have always had weird thoughts about grades and how we assign them in schools. Many see “no pass no play” as a victory for schools and students, but at what cost? Here’s my question: If grades are supposed to reflect “mastery,” then why should a student be “punished” from participating in the activities they love because they may have struggled to aster the concepts at the time the grades are captured for eligibility purposes?
First, let me get something straight! I do not believe that you should give a student anything. That’s is not my point here. As I grow and learn and think about teaching and learning I’m just struggling to know that there are actually students out there that are forbidden from participating in an activity that they may love because they do not master a concept when the UIL says they have to have the concept mastered. If we truly believe in mastery then it is okay if the student masters it at a later time with proper intervention and reassessment.
As a student I always struggled in math. I struggled so badly at times that I wasn’t even aware of what the teacher was talking about at times. I soon realized that part of the problem was me, and part of it was the teachers I had weren’t that great. Because I understood the subjective grading system that is currently in place I always made about a 77 in math class. I knew that if I showed up, smiled, went to tutoring each day, did a bunch of extra credit, then eventually I’d passed. Who would actually fail my smiling face?
So what about the student who works hard in class but is simply struggling on the concepts that are taught. They’ve done everything right except the fact that they just don’t get it right now. Now it’s time for the 6 weeks grading period and the grade is below 70. In our system’s current form this student can no longer participate in the activities that they love. All because the teacher has to average grades and a grade below 70 is recorded. Why couldn’t that teacher mark those failing test grades as developing because the student is in intervention relearning the concept? Because as educators we do know the purpose of assessments is not for “grades,” but to assess mastery of the concept presented.
In schools all across Texas, students are being told that if they do not master a concept right away they are failing. It doesn’t matter to me if the student masters the concept right away, or 2 months away. The key is that they do actually master it. A great school with a systematic approach to learning, relearning, intervention and assessment will always help with this.
Let’s begin to think about grades differently! I want to see all students successful. I want them to be involved and participate in activities without being punished when they are working on a concept that is currently developing. Grading is always a huge discussion and many people are on different sides of the fence about the matter, but it’s one that we all need to keep having.
I loved this. As a student, I didn’t struggle until I reached Calculus and Physics. I don’t believe it would have been a struggle then had I applied myself to it the way I took on extra activities. Let me face it….Senior year and I said screw it. I WADED through the muck and miery clay to “C” my way through. I agree with you in that I watched some of my peers struggle to grasp concepts that would eventually cause them to fail. They just didn’t have enough time to catch on! Tutorials were a joke especially if the “smart” ones needed help! The graspers were just left grasping. ..when in hindsight the teacher should have placed the smart with the grasping(for the grasper to catch and the smart for reinforcement). Not taking up for failure, but judge it on a different scale.