Unit 8 - Does Grading Really Measure Learning?

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I’ve been reading a lot of material on marking/grading this week.  I find myself becoming a grading radical, at least in thought. The more I read research about grading/marks and it’s bias, inflation, and lack of uniformity, the more I begin to think that assigning grades to student work is antiquated. And it keeps coming back to this for me: What are we as educators trying to accomplish with our final marks? Can I really distinguish 100 levels of achievement (1-100%)? What does it signify a student can actually do? And most importantly, how is it helping the student?








Kohn states in no uncertain terms that grades actually hurt students by reducing their interest in learning, their likelihood to take academic risks and decrease the quality of student thinking. 
(Kohn, A. (2011.) The Case Against Grading. Education Journal, November, 2011. Retrieved  from https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/case-grades/ ) I have come to believe the letter or percentage grades we give students are serve the institution more than the students and penalizes those who learn at different paces.

We are not measuring true learning, newly acquired knowledge or skills acquired through mistakes and failure, the dawn of understanding, and eventual triumphing in these students. What we are measuring is if students have learned how the system works, that there is little mark value in taking risks, and that behaviour is a factor in marking. Too often, grades are used

I used to take off marks for late assignments. That was how it was done. But, handing in something late is a behaviour. It might reflect a slower learner pace, executive function, lack of access to resources or even personal tragedy. It can represent a learner taking a risk on an idea, failing, and going back to redo. You know, actual learning! I wasn’t rewarding learning, I was grading compliance to policy. That entry in my grade book became “I” for incomplete information, because that’s what a missed assignment truly represents. (TeacherTube. (January 8, 2008.) Toxic Grading Practices: Dr. Douglas Reeves Excerpt Assessment and Evaluation Symposium. (2008.)  (YouTube video.) Retrieved from  https://www.teachertube.com/video/dr-douglas-reeves-toxic-grading-practices-29656 )

Still, that makes things messy. What if there are too many incompletes? What do you do with a student who doesn’t hand in any assignments, but writes a perfect Provincial exam? (My younger cousin did this in high school history, he had the highest exam mark in the province. Drove his parents and teachers crazy!

If we are assessing to promote learning, I believe that a standards or competencies based assessment is the way to go. It is much more precise about what a student can do. This system generates more student engagement and accountability and allows for trying again until the standard is attained. But it’s not system friendly, it’s a lot harder to report as a single discrete number or letter. Still, a number of higher learning institutions have agreed not to discriminate against students receiving these assessments.

Despite my growing conviction that this is the right thing to do, I don’t have any easy answers. Learning is a messy, start-stop-start, imprecise business.  The systems that allow entry to higher learning are built on grades that don’t, in my opinion, truly reflect learning, or the ability to learn, but are a complex mash of many factors. Hopefully, these incorporate skills, knowledge and understanding, but also include compliance, behavior, understanding of dominant culture and even luck in your life experiences during the course.  Our provincial law requires grades be submitted for high school courses. I am employed by this system, so I’m part of the problem.

But, I’m reading and I’m trying to learn more about best practices so I can be part of the solution.