Entrance Slip: October 19 (Marks, Grades, and their effects on schooling)

As a math major, I love numbers. I love to make sense of numbers wherever they show up, and bring them into the equation when they are absent. As a student however, I honestly hate (receiving) numbers. I will never forget my awful, gut-wrenching, despairing 12% midterm result from first year (for context, the class average was a whopping 10%- like, 123456789...10). People left that exam crying! And for what? That grade was eventually scaled. 

We are societally engrained that the better the grades, the more the opportunities. We also know that grades are important for upholding standards and is a great tool for measuring progress. To be blunt, no one wants to be treated by a doctor who scored 40% on the MCATs, or get in a car with a driver that is confident about 60% of the controls. What about learning math from a math major that had an initial raw score of 12%? Numbers ARE important, but they need SPECIFIC context, and they CANNOT be the only means of ranking who is competent for what task.  

I think that the problem with grades is how they are misused and misunderstood. I believe that grades should be for measuring growth in understanding of a topic, and should have a cap at defined competence. Somewhat like a progress bar and checklist! 

In terms of society, it doesn't make sense to me how universities use grades to determine admission because there are so, so many variables that affect the grades students apply with. Yet, the general belief is that good grades => good average => good university => good career => good standing in society. The pressures are on, but those grade 12 averages truly don't tell very much about a student. The averages are a product of a student's mindset, work ethic, workload, mastery of general content, interpersonal dynamics, grading practices, socio-economic status, familial support, etc. Additionally, if the averages in grades 11 - 12 are required to provide a summary of competence in high school for universities, then why are assignments graded via snapshot-percentage in the years prior to that? 

To respond to question 3, "could you imagine teaching math and/or science without giving grades?", the answer, in the context of our current style of education and curriculum, is no. I think that grades are integral to learning, when they are viewed as checkpoints, or progress-points. Regardless whether grades are numbers, letters, checkmarks, comments, P/F, etc., in order for me to track a students growth, there must be tangible evidence beyond my teacher intuition. I can't simply feel that Student A has great potential, and Student B will not pass, because that opens up room for bias. 

"How could a teacher encourage learning without having an emphasis on grading?" That is where creativity, game-based learning, outdoor learning, flipped classroom, thinking classroom, motivation, etc comes in! There are so many ways to have fun while learning, where students stop focusing on grades and more on content. There also needs to be transparency and consistency within your grading practices. I also think students need to be involved in their own reflection about their metacognition and competence, because that motivates them to become lifelong learners in all contexts.