We journalists have a responsibility just like everyone else. We often report on political battles over sexual and racial references in classes and textbooks, but easy grading aimed at satisfying students and their families rather than the motive of making schools work is mostly ignored.
In their report, “Think Again: Does 'Fair' Grading Benefit Students?” — Coffey and Tyner, despite evidence that many children do not understand the lessons. , laments policies such as banning penalties for lateness and preventing student behavior from scoring less than 50 percent.
The researchers acknowledge that some adjustments in traditional grading could be helpful. “But top-down policies that make grading more lenient are not the solution, especially as schools grapple with the academic and behavioral challenges of the post-pandemic era,” they wrote.
“No-zero mandates, no homework grading, no penalties for tardiness or misbehavior…reducing expectations and responsibilities for students, inhibiting teachers' ability to manage classrooms and motivating students, and reducing parents' and other stakeholders,” the report said. state.
They were assigned to teachers who graded more rigorously in a 2004 study of more than 5,000 third, fourth, and fifth grade students in Alachua County, Florida, by professors David Fillio and Maurice Lucas. Students pointed out that they were “able to experience higher test scores.'' I grew up in both reading, writing and math. A 2020 study by American University's Seth Gershenson of Algebra I 8th and 9th grade students in North Carolina found that the same thing happened in both the teacher's lessons and subsequent math courses. There was found.
Standardized tests that measure what children actually know reveal a tendency to hide their failures. From 2006 to 2016, more than one-third of students who earned a B in algebra passed the state algebra exam, according to Gershenson's report on North Carolina's grading standards. It turns out that I couldn't get a skilled score in . Nationally, her average ACT composite score in 2021 was her worst since 2010, but the average grade point average for her ACT test takers that year was a 3.4 on a four-point scale. It was the best ever reported.
In contrast, the U.S. high school grade point average has increased from about 2.6 in 1990 to about 3.0 in 2021.
In the 2000s and 2010s, educators pushed to loosen requirements because they felt increasingly strict grading was creating an unhealthy aversion to school. Books by leading academics such as Ken O'Connor, Cornelius Miner, and Joe Feldman sold well and led many large school districts to ban zeros on assignments.
Many educators say the trend has gone too far. In his report on the disappointing results in North Carolina, Gershenson quoted one teacher as saying: That makes sense. “
In some areas, the fair grading movement has led to one of the most successful school reforms of the past 50 years: improving high school education by enrolling more students in college-level courses such as Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate. reforms to improve learning are being undermined.
Noah Lipman teaches the AP United States History course. African American Studies. She teaches government and macroeconomics to juniors and seniors at Highlands High School in San Antonio. Almost all students at this school come from low-income Hispanic families.
Teachers in some parts of the country report that disadvantaged students benefit from having to struggle in AP courses. They argue that even if students don't pass the final AP exam, their efforts will better prepare them for college.
Knowing this, Lipman helped institute a rule at Highlands High School that students were not allowed to drop AP classes during the first six weeks. But administrators are ignoring that restriction, he said. They often pull students away from AP much earlier out of concern that low grades will discourage them, a central tenet of the fair grading movement.
“In the first four weeks, 10 to 15 percent of students are removed from the roster,” he said. “In many cases, I don't even know that the student is being expelled. I never participate in the conversation.”
San Antonio schools spokeswoman Laura R. Short said the district provides “access to AP courses for all students.” But she did not explain why district supervisors are pulling students from AP courses despite protests from teachers like Lippman, other than to say parents initiated the demands. Lippman said he had never seen anything like that in class.
Politicians find it easier to provoke voters' anger when talking about sex and race in the classroom. But it's hard to get those same voters excited about so many students getting straight A's.
It's as much a part of American school culture as pop quizzes and parent-teacher conferences, but not much is being done about it. It dates back to at least 1913, when educational psychologist and primary school textbook editor Guy Montrose Whipple attacked the “reliability of the marking system'' as “a completely uncalibrated instrument.''
It would be helpful to focus on developing young minds rather than raising grade point averages. Difficult tests like AP and IB finals are graded by unbiased experts. As such, it can motivate more effort than a regular in-class final exam, which is graded by the student's own teacher, who knows the student well and tends to be more lenient.
But for now, the school board appears to have too many other topics on its agenda to prioritize the tougher work for students.
