Comments on for the love of learning: No good reason to grade

I am not an education, just a parent. I think the ...

2012-01-17T07:13:08.349-07:00

I am not an education, just a parent. I think the grading process should continue. If an intelligent child is slacking off, the grades will show it. If a child that struggles with math is trying real hard, it will show it. By getting rid of the grading system, it will not be as obvious to the parent what their child is doing. The teacher may or may not know and may or may not tell the parent, as not all teachers do. I think the grading process should stay.

My wife is a sped teacher working on her masters a...

2010-07-21T22:58:34.473-06:00

My wife is a sped teacher working on her masters and I am currently a teacher assistant working with ed/bd students while working on completing my bachleors so I may teach. My wife, while working on a project, ran across this website and called me in saying I will love this site.... well, from the short time I have checked it out- she is right. Just wanted to let you know. Until next time.
Bd.
bdalesms74@hotmail.com

Aubrey, If the system we have now is leading to w...

2010-06-20T19:00:56.105-06:00

Aubrey,

If the system we have now is leading to well educated adults then you would have a point. However, since the recommended literacy level for public speaking is 6th grade, the only ones that seem to have lost their minds are the ones who want to let things continue going they way they are.

David Doria
Computer Vision Researcher
Albany, NY

I read "Punished By Rewards" a long time...

2010-04-20T10:35:23.798-06:00

I read "Punished By Rewards" a long time ago. Harder read, but worth it!! I am a junior high math teacher, but I read it as a parent when my boys were toddlers. What do you get when you clean your room? A CLEAN ROOM !!

Joe, as a parent and a teacher, I am looking at th...

2010-04-11T21:04:13.555-06:00

Joe, as a parent and a teacher, I am looking at this issue from both sides. I am the carrot, I am the stick, but usually I just feel like the jackass. I tell my sons this is a system that they are intelligent enough to work with, beat, or use for self-reflection. But at this point in their lives they are not allowed to look at it off-shore through heavy lenses. And for my own students, I always allow late work (by quarters' ends at least - I have a life, too) without penalty. As for Professor Cochran, I would say as students, this is their time to learn, to be students, to grow their thinking. They are not little factory-stamped robots. There are plenty of countries who produce those in their educational systems. On another note, I sometimes feel that when you say "grading system" what does this matrix look like--I would like to know this enemy. I am sure you would agree that it isn't one size fits all for every age, or every school, or every teacher.

Aubrey, beyond the rhetoric, are you suggesting th...

2010-03-31T13:24:11.770-06:00

Aubrey, beyond the rhetoric, are you suggesting that school should be about competition?

Do you see competition as more important than collaboration?

If abolishing grades is so absurd, then I need you to provide something that resembles proof for why we should maintain our grading systems. Something more than calling me names.

Me thinks many of you have lost your minds. Why no...

2010-03-31T12:58:46.154-06:00

Me thinks many of you have lost your minds. Why not do away, not with just grades but also with schools. Illustrating the absurd with the absurd.

The dumbing down of our students and taking away competition will not lead to well educated
American adults. It may lead however, to ignorant, wimpy socialists. Who knows, they may become advisors to B.H. Obama in his old age.

Aubrey Cochran
American History Educator
Phenix City, AL

I also agree with this summary and our division is...

2010-03-27T10:05:02.129-06:00

I also agree with this summary and our division is starting the process of moving away from grades but I guess anyway you communicate to the parents there is some interpretation of grading happening. My second thought about this that it seems that younger children, typically, don't have the ability to intrinsically motivate themselves. I think it is something that is not quite built into their thinking yet. I believe that this is something that we, parents and teachers, teach them to do. So I would think that that stars and stickers need to be used at younger grades but as they get older they should be able to recognize themselves a job well done.

I agree with Sue. There is a benchmark and a perso...

2010-03-26T07:12:19.526-06:00

I agree with Sue. There is a benchmark and a person has either met it or has not. People who have not met benchmarks would like to know how close they are to meeting them. So we sometimes offer phrases like 'beginning to meet'. Grading to you is synonymous with ranking. You dislike the reality of statistical normative curves or perhaps you dislike the way society insists on ordering students along the curve artificially. I share that dislike.

Thanks for this article! I came across it while pr...

2010-03-09T13:15:23.527-07:00

Thanks for this article! I came across it while procrastinating in front of a stack of uncorrected mid-term exams. Very refreshing. My marking just got harder...

Overall, I agree heartily. I have one question, th...

2010-02-27T09:10:13.080-07:00

Overall, I agree heartily. I have one question, though:

Do you consider pass/fail the same as grading? I don't. I want there to be certification for some things. Either you know enough to do CPR properly and save a life, or you don't.

I couldn't agree more. It's time to do aw...

2010-02-26T11:09:21.780-07:00

I couldn't agree more. It's time to do away with grades. Like you say, they have no real value and only spur negative extrinsic motivation.

Especially in normal schools state schools, teachers have their students for an entire year or at least a semester. If you don't know your students well enough to assess them and help them out where they need it then you probably aren't doing your job. I can't imagine how giving student X a low grade rather than helping them out is in any way beneficial.

Let the grading stop and the learning begin.

If you want to know how I come up with a final gra...

2010-02-25T22:34:39.617-07:00

If you want to know how I come up with a final grade when I have no other grades: read this - http://www.joebower.org/2010/02/museum-of-education.html

I completely agree with you, but I do wonder what ...

2010-02-25T18:24:42.688-07:00

I completely agree with you, but I do wonder what you do about quarterly or semester report card grades?

Glad to have you on board!

2010-02-25T11:37:28.421-07:00

Glad to have you on board!

Interesting... Will be following your thoughts on ...

2010-02-25T09:43:40.386-07:00

Interesting... Will be following your thoughts on Twitter and here. I'm a School Psychologist in Cincinnati, OH.
-LeAnna