The Problem with Traditional Grading

Despite grading’s basic problems, teachers and students can become addicted to grades. The

teacher mentioned above confided that she felt a real need for the “leverage”

afforded by grades. And students quickly learn to ascertain what will count for grades and

concentrate on this rather than on mastery itself. Many teachers routinely use grades as external

motivators, often based on proxies for learning – points for attendance or worksheets, activities,

etc. This is doubly problematic – they don’t deal directly with the Standards’ artistic processes

of creating or responding, and the points (and the grade) become the focus of students’ efforts

instead of those processes and understandings.

The traditional view is that tests, grades, and their attendant threats are necessary to

“make students take learning seriously.” This begs an interesting question: If there were no

grades to threaten students, would they stop learning or trying? If true, it would be only because

the students were never focused on learning, only on the grade. This is a condemnation of such a

system. Education must consist of more than achieving a letter grade!

Teaching Tangibles

• Understand the factors that foster student motivation to learn in school. • • Identify barriers that prevent students from achieving in school. • • Evaluate your own beliefs and how they impact your expectations for student success. • • Gain strategies for creating a supportive learning environment. • • Enhance and strengthen your own presentation skills. • • Explore issues of gender bias and their impact on student achievement. • • Design fast-paced, engaging lessons to grab and keep the attention of all your students.
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