Does Your School Hand Out Too Many A’s?

“Mom, Dad, I got all A’s on my report card this term!”

“Little Jimmy, that’s amazing. We’re so proud of you!”

I’m sure everyone imagines this situation as the ideal interaction between a successful student and supportive parents.

And too many, yes, this is the situation that all families should strive for.

But perhaps the report card isn’t telling the whole story.

Schools often require teachers to take a minimum of fifteen grades over a grading period (report card). Depending on the size of the school, teachers can have anywhere from seventy-five students all the way up to two hundred students. This means that teachers could be expected to grade three thousand pieces of work every grading period.

So, what do teachers do to combat this?

Often, teachers mitigate their own workload by assigning “completion” work—work that gets an automatic one-hundred just for completing it. They do not base the grade on the quality of the work but rather on whether they did it.

So imagine that half of the work your student gets a one hundred on is completion work. Eight out of fifteen grades taken are based solely on whether or not they did it.

Then you see that your student’s teacher allows them to correct test grades to get half of their points back. So a student can get eight out of ten correct on a test and pass the grade with an 80%, but their teachers let them correct it up to 90%.

Students should definitely have an opportunity to raise a failing grade to a passing one, but if a student is already passing, they should not have a chance to get points back.

It looks better on the teacher whenever a principal looks at their grade book and sees higher grades because the assumption is that they are teaching at such a proficient level that all of their students excel. Therefore, this means that the teacher’s job is safer in the long run.

Then, there is another issue arising. Certain states nationwide are considering, or already have, implemented a new grading scale. Some schools are now saying that to achieve an A grade, you only have to show 80% mastery. This means you can make 80s in all your classes but get all As on your report card as a student.

Is this best for students? The initial argument is that students will feel less stress about achieving an A. Knowing that they will not have to work as hard to achieve an A, students can feel less anxiety about completing their work.

But, in the long run, this is bad for students. Holding students to a lesser standard only reinforces negative study habits and qualities. Being given an A for doing B work will give the student the impression that their work is perfect when, in fact, it is not.

Students need encouragement, that’s obvious, but giving them a grade under false pretenses sets them up for failure in the future.

Students must earn their grades by showing they know and truly understand the skill they are being graded on. So, schools should consider having their students take fewer grades. If teachers only had to grade, at most, ten assignments over a grading period, they would get a better sense of how well their students understand the material.

There would no longer be a need for so much “completion” work because teachers would have the time to assess their students properly.

Don’t allow students to correct grades they have already passed. All it does is inflate their grades and give an improper view of the students’ understanding of the standards.

Finally, hold students to a higher standard. Don’t give them free As; instead, let them earn it. Give them the opportunity to show how they genuinely understand and have mastered the subject.