Standard Base Grading Analysis

Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, “Degrading to De-Grading”. The author suggests more effective ways to assess students’ progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, “I got a better grade than you!”. Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could make positive changes in the system.

In “How Grading Reform Changed Our School” by Jeffrey A. Erickson, the Assistant Principal of Minnetonka High School in Minnesota, Erickson assessed how and what things are taken into account when distributing grades. Erickson claimed that the accuracy and truthfulness of grades are misrepresented with many common components that seem to be used for general grading standards.

It is necessary for schools across the board to have weighted classes and consistent grading scales. One of the pros to having weighted classes is encouraging kids

Over the years one major issue of grade inflation has often come up. Teachers frequently question the importance of grades and how that data is used to compare students. Many teachers see the need to place a high emphasis on grades, thus causing stress and anxiety when students have a low performance. As a result, we have a school wide problem of grade inflation from teachers who believe students effort and work habits should determine the grade they earn. I would propose taking a deeper look into the purpose of testing. Thoughtful educators see the goal of testing as the observation of progress being made by a student. We need to begin to hold students to high standards by gathering a balanced picture of a student’s ability and mastery. In doing so we must use different forms of assessing students, and not solely test or papers. Once we can begin to utilize all forms of assessments we can begin to get parent involvement in helping children to learn and develop proper work habits and study skills, hopefully resulting in true grade

First and foremost, letter grades have been used since the 19th century without any complications. “The traditional grading scale is universally recognized. Virtually everyone knows that earning an A is good while earning an F is associated with failure. The traditional grading scale is easy to interpret and understand. The simplistic nature of the system makes it user-friendly for teachers, students, and parents. It also allows for a direct comparison from one student to another within a specific class” (Meador). Ultimately, parents remember and understand the letter grading system. It's easy to be happy that their child earned an

Louisiana State University has decided to adopt a Plus/Minus grading system for the fall semester of 2015. So what does this mean? The current grading system bases grade point averages, or GPAs, on a 4.0 scale with an A worth 4.0 quality points, a B worth 3.0, et cetera. According to the University Registrar’s website, GPAs with the Plus/Minus grading system will now be based on a 4.3 scale with an A+ worth 4.3 quality points, an A worth 4.0, an A- worth 3.7, et cetera. Supporters of the Plus/Minus grading scale believe that it will reduce grade inflation and make LSU more competitive with other national schools that have a system in place like the one LSU is adopting (“A Plus and Minus Grading System for LSU”). However, many students have great concerns about how this policy will be implemented and the repercussions it will have on their GPAs and futures. Overall, the University should have been more thorough conducting its research and considered the negative effects that the Plus/Minus system will have on students and the university as a whole.

Have you ever gotten an A on a test before? Were you happy or excited? How would you feel If that grade was replaced by a number? This is what Standards Based Grading is doing to schools. While some will say SBG is helpful and less threatening than traditional grading, they are wrong. SBG is more harmful than helpful because letter grades are more precise, letter grades give more motivation, and collages are harder to get into with SBG.

However, I do not agree that the credit system is a reliable solution to this. Farber has many good statements about learning, such as, “We’re grade junkies-- convinced that we’d never learn without the A’s and F’s to keep us going.” By saying this, he is saying that people think they need grades to get good grades and to complete their work. But if someone really cares about their grades and getting good grades makes them feel good, then schools have been successful. I believe that schools should teach the children to learn the materials and to learn to be self-disciplined. Also, I do agree that people are willing to learn something if they want to know, thus it would make teaching children easier. I also agree that forcing people to learn is not the solution-- they just forget and have to relearn everything over again. I believe that ultimately there is not a solution to the grading system. The credit system still requires someone to meet the requirements or to not meet them, which is technically still a grade. Passing and failing is grading someone, and there is no other solution to the grading system. I believe the credit system is a good idea, but it would never

Or if they put the wrong percentage in they can easily fix it. Some people are just lazy and it would be easier for them to use the pass or fail grading system so they wouldn't have to do the math to figure out a students grade. pass or fail grading system encourages students to do the bare minimum. Their mentality is all they have to do is pass. With a grading system there is no room to slack off. That's the type of system we need in the schools, because later in life it reflects how we perform as person, student and also in out

The grading system benefitted me in the way that we had opportunities to do other activities other than doing all of them. I personally do not do well in front of a crowd of people, so the performance was automatically out of the picture for myself but, because of the options I was still able to find points in other areas of the class. I happened to learn a lot through both the learning logs and presenting the making a case. Additionally, the extra learning activities we were given the opportunity to do, helped me learn in a very interesting way. The learning activity that asked about production notes made me think and learn in a very different way than I am used to. I am not too knowledgeable about individuals that usually play in movies so I had to do some research to decide who I thought could be the perfect fit for the

If they are not graded on that, then will not be able to see how those aspects of their education are necessary in the “real world”. This can also negatively affect their grades. Students that are good at regular assignments, but not good when it comes to tests, it could be a serious issue for them, as it will be harder to get their grades back up. Several teachers told parents that they wouldn’t award the highest number on the scale, or that extra work must be completed to earn 4s, leaving children confused on how to reach the advanced level of proficiency (See “Parents give standards-based grading scale F” ¶ ). Since students aren’t being graded on their classroom participation or homework completion, their grades can take a major downfall if they do make a big mistake, such as bomb a test, and they might not be able to make up for it by earning bonus points from extra credit either. If they do, then it would be a lot more work than it should be. Students who are “standards-based” graded will see their overall grade drop due to the system’s inability to evaluate all aspects of their education, as well as not being able to fully understand its methods.

As a Curriculum Coach, I facilitate professional development for teachers based on the needs of our staff and students. After spending time observing classrooms and meeting with teachers, I realized that we needed to examine our current grading practices. Our current practices focus too much on grading effort and behaviors, and not enough on measuring understanding of specific learning targets. As a result, our students and teachers focus on turning in assignments, instead of learning. If ask why a student is failing, the most common response is “he is not turning in his work”. Teachers are unable to communicate which specific learning targets the students are missing, because the grades are distorted by student behaviors. When making decisions about placement in honors courses, it is difficult to determine which students have the knowledge necessary to move into an advanced course because their grades are clouded by effort and

No large standardized test in the United States to my recollection uses a curve for grading: not the SAT, ACT, AP exams, nor even state-level tests, such as an SOL. There are many different factors to consider in grading, and the primary one should not be comparative performance. Just because a large majority performed the same does not mean it is average; I am enrolled in higher level classes at my high school and it is expected for my entire class to score above averagely. That would not be possible on a bell curve. This brings up the point of “fairness.” I personally believe bell curves are not fair. Fair should be considered as having the ability to have your own abilities showcased and assessed without interference from outside sources. The bell curve grading is completely conditional and will hoist or hurt a person’s grade based on the pettiest of things. Also, this is not fair if we are comparing between classes. Let’s say there is an extremely smart person in a Stat class at Mountain View. This genius, Bailey, always brought Veronica’s grades down in the bell curve. Now we are in the exact same Stat curriculum class but in Stafford High School; there is a student, Michelle. Michelle performs the exact same as Veronica, but doesn’t have a genius like Bailey in her class, so Michelle’s grade will appear higher. No matter what you definition of “fair” is, that certainly isn’t it. Grades should be given

Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child’s performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate the plus/minus system in their method of grading.

It is important for me to say that though there are many issues with standardizing tests and in general with the education system due to its focus on test that I do see value in the system. Tests are for many students one of the most effective means in which to see progress and therefore are needed in our education system, they just make teaching effectively harder for many