In a previous article I discussed the ills of ranking and sorting children by means of administering an assessment that should have only one purpose, to provide feedback to the teacher so he can plan future instruction accordingly.
I have a great bumper sticker on my car that reads, "Eliminate Grades." What indeed would a classroom look like in the absence of grades? How will we ever survive if we can't say that Johnny is a 90% and Jane is an 85%? Or that my Johnny is better than your Jane because of the numeric difference. Seemingly the world would spin out of control
and slam into the sun. We would all be sizzled like sausages like the Enormous Crocodile in Roald Dahl's classic. Well, I have eliminated grades in my fifth grade classroom (surprisingly I've gotten away with it) and the earth is still spinning on its axis and I'm held in high regard in my parent/student community.
I can't help it, but every time I hear other teachers speak of the upcoming spelling test or Friday Science test I get shivers. Only a couple of years ago I had to have my collection of grades. I spent time administering pen and paper tests, scrutinizing book reports using a rubric scale, and judging the quality of a child's artwork to give him a project grade. In retrospect, I see that was all a waste of time I could have been using reading, researching, and planning exciting things for the classroom. Not to mention, the grade I put on a rubric-based project might be totally different than another person might have rated it. So in this case what really does an 85% mean? It's all a bunch of hoopla.
I dare say let children not work for the almighty
grade, but for the pursuit of their own interests and curiosities as naturally inquisitive beings. They will not disappoint in the absence of this controlling numeric force in their lives. In the next article in this series, I will elaborate on how I answer a parent's question, "How do I know he's learning?"