TheApple

I believe that maintaining letter grades is important. Students need to learn from an early age that there is some level of accountability for their quality of work. When students reach college their grades will be in letter form. I believe that it would put future college students at an emotional and psychological disadvantage to go through school receiving teacher commentary, and then face the cold, hard reality of "scoring" in college. It would be one more enormous transition that would have to be made. I think it is inaccurate to say that letter grades (or number grades) are a comparison of students. I believe they are more a reflection of the student's ability to meet, exceed, or (unfortunately) fail to meet the "standard" set by the educator for that particular class. I do believe, however, that more input and commentary from the teachers regarding the student's performance in the class could only be beneficial. But let's not take away that feeling of achievement students get when they work very hard and get that "A", or raise their grade from a D to a B+ with lots of extra hard work. Let's give them something to strive for and achieve, rather than (potentially) ambiguous teacher commentary.

Keep in mind there are 2 types of assessments: those of learning and those for learning. We need to use both to teach and report. There needs to be a uniform system to measure skills and content learned, but also needs to be explanations.

I guess any type of grading system tells, to a point, how the student performed in class. It could also be an indicator of how a student might perform in college and ultimately as a professional. But, of course, there would always be Steve Jobs who would show us that some things just can't be graded.

I believe in letter grades. I also believe that schools/districts need to adopt some type of uniformity when it comes to 'how' grades are derived. For example, some educators count homework 50% and then others might count it 10%. How is this a true measure of learning. I firmly believe that most grades should be given based on classwork. I do not go home with my students so I can't guarantee that they have support at home or even the conditions to complete assignments.

So before we move to eliminate 'grades', I think we should look at how we calculate them.

The elementary school report cards I recall had the "grades" being, E for excellent, S for satisfactory I for improving, NI for Needs Improvement. It then graded me on each subject area and then areas such as responsibility (which stood for turning work in on time) participation, effort, and other such things. My parents could then easily see that the area which I needed the most work was participation, instead of participation bringing down my grade for other things.

I think the letter grade is necessary only because of parent's reactions to there not being one. Competition is indeed healthy, and kids will seek it out wherever they can find it. If they are not given a "safe" competition, such as grades, they will find an unsafe one (involving drugs and/or alcohol).

But, I think that a grading system such as I remember from elementary school would be great in every class in the upper grades. If each teacher is sending all those elements above, with the subject matter grades being broken into the content standards covered, it would be a lot more informative. And, if it's done with the E, S, I, NI, then the parents don't have to decipher or skim through a long narrative. It won't take them long to scan over and see where their child got an NI, and then they can compare it throughout the classes. Does the child have NI in timeliness across the board, or is it only in English?

I seem to recall getting a report card similar to that in one of my high schools...

I assess everyday, the kids hate taking a quiz everyday, but it helps me know if i need to reteach. It also helps me get the students ready for state test (I give the quiz in State Test format). With that said I have to say I like Number grades, this is the mean that your kid earned. I can handle the Letter grade to go along with it, but a narrative, now that would be bad I would just hope I could use Word with it.

Rdedominicis: I agree with you. I taught high school English for a year, and realized very quickly that the students felt as though they were entitled to pass just for showing up. I was at two different schools (covering maternity leaves and whatnot); the second school I was at was horrible for this feeling of desensitization. They actually had a raffle system, where the student got a "ticket" if they went so many weeks (I think it was 3) without being late, being written up, or failing to turn in any work or being a problem. At the end of the 3 weeks, they did a huge drawing, and students won a variety of different prizes (everything from free tickets to a sporting event to gift cards and the like). I did not participate, partially because I couldn't remember to turn my tickets in, but mostly because I thought it was a stupid idea. Students shouldn't be rewarded for doing what THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. It seems that the school was preparing them to think that they were entitled to everything and that they would get what they want without putting in the work. I threatened my seniors with failure several times, and I had one senior who had the gall to tell me that I couldn't fail him. I merely looked at him and said "watch me".

Natsunekko: Your son seems to be like many other students. I noticed that I had many students who would do very well on tests, yet still had a 'D' or 'F' because of their failure to turn in assignments. I understand your concern that your son's grade may not accurately reflect all of his knowledge in a particular content area. However, for many school systems, work that is turned in is the main, if not only, means that a teacher has of evaluating the student. It is difficult to explain to someone why a child is failing or if a child understands the material if there is no work to back it up. Tests are not always indicative of whether the student truly knows the material or not. Depending on the subject, it is possible for the student to "learn" enough to pass the test.

Whether it's right or not, in most cases, grades do play a large part in determining a child's placement in future classes. However, students must take the responsibility of turning in their work upon themselves if they want their grade to truly reflect their knowledge. The teacher can only do so much.