In her article, "I Don't Grade Papers Anymore," I was drawn in immediately by Marylyn Calabrese's confession that she hadn't graded papers for over ten years. This aligns similarly to my own experience--as I grew in my understanding about learning and grading, it became clear that students simply didn't read my red-inked comments on their graded papers. Instead, they flipped right to what mattered to them the most--the grade. I didn't stop grading papers upon this realization, but I did begin to conference with students. Conferencing--as I've mentioned before--is a powerful way to help students grow in their writing.
A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to take a class from our district's curriculum director entitled, "How to Grade for Learning," and it was based on the book of the same name by Ken O'Connor. I have to say--it really shook up my world in terms of grading. I came to understand that many of our time-honored traditions simply have no impact in terms of report student learning. In fact, grading in general does a poor job of reporting anything other than assignment completion. So often, behavior is wrapped up into grades as well. I've heard teachers say things like, "..so and so has worked so hard this semester and they've got an 89 now. But I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them an A." Similarly, I've heard colleagues boast about not awarding a grade based solely on a student's attitude. What we need, therefore, is a more productive way about reporting learning and ways to report behavior--but keep them separate.
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Warren what you say here is so true. Grading is subjective no matter how we try to make it otherwise. It is not only the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about in faculty meetings, it is the elephant we keep feeding and can no longer manage. Grading reminds me of healthcare in that the solution is so complex and yet so urgent.
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