All I want for Christmas is that education be valued in our society! Sure most people will say they value education when asked, but what does that look like? Scan our media and see where educators our held up in high esteem? Can you find many places?
When news outlets talk to “educational” experts they rarely if ever talk to TEACHERS, the ones in education. News likes to talk to the think tank experts who have spent little time if any in a classroom. Funny isn’t it? When they want medical opinions they talk to doctors, legal opinions they talk to lawyers, cooking advice they even talk to master chefs. BUT when it comes to talking about education, no lets talk to people who have strong opinions but haven’t spent time in a classroom! When it comes to depicting teachers in TV and Film are they held in high regard like: Doctors, Lawyers, Police or Fire personal? NO the educators come off as stereotypical characters who could not “do” so they had to teach. It is hard to find a teacher represented as a positive character anywhere. Schools are a reflection of our society we need to hold them up and show that they are valuable to us.
Okay, let me ease the minds of many readers who feel a grade is a form of feedback. Yes, teachers need to give feedback on ALL assignments that is timely and specific. I for one don’t believe a letter grade (or number if that is what you use) is feedback at all. It is little more than a type of categorical ranking for a piece of work or period of time. It may be timely but is not specific at ALL. Why do schools chose to assign letter grades to work? What does the A, B, C, D, F (or now often an E) mean?
Our culture is obsessed with these grades. Grades are found everywhere, from Consumer Reports and stock ratings to ESPN and fashion magazines. Here is a quick rundown of the common understanding of letter grades:
A = The best can’t be better (unless +,- system used)
B = meeting the standards
C = Average but okay
D = Below Average but passing
F/E = Failing do work or not acceptable work
So, if letter grades are used as feedback, are they specific? NO not very specific and actually quit vague by most standards. These grades might be okay for a stock rating or to judge a person’s attire for an evening but that is about it. Consumer Reports uses a great model for grading. The magazine gives a letter grade, but backs the grade up with a paragraph or two of justification. Giving specific reasons why a product receives a certain marking. I would bet that the grades came after giving reviews for awhile and readers wanted a “quick” guide to how a product compared to another. As educators or parents should we care how our student stacks up to another?
I hope not. Education is not about where a student ranks, it is about getting a student to be the best they can be. Grades hurt this growth in our students. Students need the kind of constructive feedback that Consumer Reports gives products that it is reviewing. Details about strengths and weaknesses. Remarks about how they can improve on their work. Does a student gain a desire to improve when earning an A?
Students often see the letter grade as a destination. Asking “what do I need to do to get an A?” Is this what we want in our students today? Reaching an end goal and stopping? Schools need to instill the value of improving work. Everything can be improved. I am still becoming a better teaching now, after 13 years on the job. Letter grades inhibit this growth in our students. In the many conversations I have with students, they often reflect that they are doing well enough when their grades are B and above. Many refer to this behavior as “doing” school. Are we creating learners? or something else?
Parents can actually be worse about grades. Parents will call and ask how their child can receive an A. Not worrying about the quality or the work or learning behaviors. Parents will often use these letters to compare their child to others. Should we be making comparisons? I personally would leave that up to selective colleges or employers.
This leads us to one of the major arguments for grades: those darn colleges require them. Should they? I don’t think so. Colleges should have an application process that has performance tasks. Admittance to college should not depend on arbitrary letters a collection of teachers gave a student over 4 years. Admittance should be based upon what a student can or cannot do! Colleges are currently complaining about grade inflation and student needs for remedial classes. So obviously our current K-12 grading system is not working for college admittance. Another example of where letter grades fail the students has been shared with me from high school AP teachers. Regularly they will have a student who “fails” their class but receives a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exam. This means the student would receive college credit for the class but not high school credit.
Our culture thinks grades are great for education. Schools need to change this perception. Grades are great for the momentary comparison, for products or ranking a draft. Remember it is momentary if not,Tony Mandarich, Charles Rodgers or any other first round draft pick bust would be in the hall of fame.
Feedback is important for learning. Students need to know what they do well and what needs improvement. One way of doing this is to switch to a Standards Based Grading System. Nationally recognized author Rick Wormeli (@RickWormeli) has been working hard to explain to the world why our current grading system is not working. Below is Rick explaining why the current system doesn’t work.
Help change grading from a ranking of students to feedback that would work to get the best out of our students. Make a system that helps students grow and become life long learns. Not striving for a letter on a piece of paper but to do their best!
Let me stare out the window for a moment instead of looking in the mirror. There is a huge billion pound gorilla out there that nobody in the “Ed Reform” world wants to address. Society doesn’t value education anymore.
Yes, I know every candidate for political office want to say they do, and parents say they care but do they really VALUE it? Like people of days gone by?
Our entertainment industry sure doesn’t. The Cosby Show is only on in reruns and to replace it we have Two and 1/2 Men. So from a family show that stressed hard work we move to, well what have we moved to, a show about a leech of a man with a dumb kid living with a “lucky” internet billionaire. To sum it up the next generation is worshiping the Kardashians and Jersey Shore. They have the “I don’t care” attitude and it shows. Parents try as they might but I see them giving in to being a buddy to their children because they do not want to deal with the extra stress or real work of raising them. heck right now my 3 children are glued to the TV while I take the time to write this. (I guess I am part of the problem). Today one of my students confessed he plays 4 hours of Xbox every day. Others talked about going to bed at 6 am over break because they were busy. These are 13 and 14 year old 8th graders.
Our Business industry doesn’t, they are so worried about profits they don’t think about the culture it is creating. They will sell anything to anyone if they will make money. My students always seem to have the newest games, cell phone and clothing. My students say they must have the name brands to be cool. These thoughs are inserted in their heads young and last a life time. Stop worrying about profits and worry about the kids. If they can’t make money, they won’t have any in the future to spend.
Did the Gorilla gain some weight.
Teachers need the help of society to fix the “ED” problem. Teachers will continue, like we always have, to work to improve our teaching and engage our students. We just need some help in our society to actual make it hit home.
Please Sweat to Inspire and put the Gorilla on a diet by holding the entire society accountable to the educational issues in this country not just the teachers. They are only a small piece to a very complex puzzle.
Sweat to Inspire 