The Problem with Grading

The problem with grading is that we have to work hard as educators to produce a number that means very little to a student's overall education. I don't just mean that the students themselves are not really motivated by numbers anymore, I mean that the numbers themselves are completely useless in describing student learning.

I am sure that the minutiae are different across the globe, but here in Ontario, grading has been automatically rendered useless because of the complexity of residual and competing political systems. We have curricula for our subject areas which proposes that we grade based on specific examples of that curriculum being met. We are then given the further lens of running our grading through the four categories of Knowledge, Thinking, Communication, and Application. The result is a hodge-podge of mashing these systems together or -worse- completely ignoring them and basing grades strictly on performative tasks. Add to that another layer of well-intentioned documentation: Growing Success.

This leaves educators in an untenable situation. We have a public understanding of grades (averages and percentages) competing with internal understandings of grades (curriculum, achievement, and Growing Success). The problem gets worse as we have to strain our evaluations through these competing filters to determine an overall grade.

The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that students have little to no connection with any of these filters. Those who want good grades will chase after them, but in the end the numbers are meaningless as the students never really understand how the number describes the learning.

I want to take the time to focus on the learning, slowing down as much as is necessary so students can clearly see and articulate their learning. I want to minimize the competing forces in the class and really get down to who they are as students and what they can accomplish.

My time in class needs to be spent on learning where each individual student can reflect and understand their own progress outside of arbitrary percentages and overly complex directives.

It's time to get rid of grading.