Helping you make sense of schooling today May 2000 • Vol. 2 • Issue 4
A
n age-old
custom,
children
throughout the country are
bringing home their report
cards and gleefully handing
them over to their parents.
But instead of finding A
through F, parents are
finding report cards covered
with Ss (for satisfactory), Gs
(for good) and Es (for excel-
lent) and scratching their
heads. Other report cards
suggest G for Growth and S
for Superior Work.
There are dozens of
different approaches to
grading today. While some
parents welcome the new
grading styles, others long
for the simplicity and imme-
diate comprehension that
the A through F scale
provided. And if it wasn’t
broken (as the old adage
goes) what’s the reason for
the fix?
Many advocates for alter-
native methods of assessing
children argue that the tradi-
tional system of grading
promotes failure, can be
intimidating to children and
that the more descriptive
grading pattern reinforces
what schools are trying to
achieve. The idea that
grades are detrimental to a
child and can lower his self-
esteem is a sentiment well
represented at education
schools and in many univer-
sities. At these schools,
features of schooling that
appear competitive are
discouraged and it is
reasoned that traditional
grading overshadows the
real learning that should be
taking place. If students
didn’t have to worry about
grades, some say, real intel-
lectual excellence could be
achieved. They would be
thinking about the material,
not what they have to do to
get that A.
Not only have the scales
themselves changed, but the
criterion on which the grade
is based has also been
altered. A child is no longer
only graded on what he
learns, but on other inciden-
tals such as class participa-
tion, how well he keeps his
notebook, and if he
completes his homework.
The new styles may
appear harmless, but do
they allow children to feel
satisfied with their work?
The switch to new grading
styles actually began to
reach a critical mass in the
eighties, a decade plagued
by a precipitous drop in
student achievement. The
introduction of the new
grading styles may have
been an impediment to the
healthy, competitive desire
to do well.
Of course, no parent
wants to see their first-
grader come home with a
sad face and a D printed on
their report card. That same
parent may want to
consider, however, that the
new grades don’t offer a
single category that denotes
exceptional achievement. If
Claire did her best to read
the science chapter she was
assigned, performed her
experiment and was able to
demonstrate complete
understanding, is that
Excellent or is it an A? If
Claire got a few B’s and A’s,
her parents might determine
that she’s a very good
student. A drop down a
grade to a C in some subjects
would be a red flag. Would
the same apply if Claire’s
report card had a few
Excellents and Goods, and
one Satisfactory?
In some schools the E is
equal to a number grade of
91-100, or a solid A. How do
you know how your school
evaluates children? Here are
a few ways to find out:
1.
Whether your child’s
school utilizes the traditional
grading style or the new-style
grades, make sure that the
mark he receives reflects the
quality of the work he does.
If your child hands in a paper
The New Grading Styles:
Are They Right for Your Child?
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
A parent may want
to consider that
the new grades
don’t offer a
single category
that denotes
exceptional
achievement.
