Grades are NOT the answer: A brief glance at a grading system that fails when we fail

There are some topics that I feel are overused, over discussed and over analyzed. I usually steer clear of bringing these topics up here because I don't think I have any new information or insight to share. Grading practice is usually one of my avoided subjects. So many people write and talk about grades that I don't want to become part of the ubiquity, and I certainly don't want to add to the reverberation in the echo chamber. However, recently I have heard and seen things about grades and grading that have irked me to the point of writing my responses in my journal, and so I thought I would share a few thoughts here, just in case you know someone who hasn't yet gotten the memo.

To begin this discussion, I think it is best to be clear on what grades ARE. Grades, as they pertain to school-use, are a tool to measure knowledge. Period. Just as a thermometer measures the amount of heat in an object, and/or the absence of heat, grades measure the amount of knowledge in a topic, and/or the absence of that knowledge. Seems pretty simple, right? Gradebooks, thermometers, they are just the vessel that carries the metric. Nothing more, nothing less. And a metric, to be clear, is simply a standard of measure. As such, grades are just a way to communicate to students how much of something they know, and how much of something they still need to know in order to know it all.

That brings us to the necessary discussion of "What Grades Are NOT". If we agree that grades are a metric of knowledge, then it becomes apparent that grades and the grading system is NOT many things. 

• Grades are NOT a punishment, for any reason. 
• Grades are NOT a paycheck for bringing in items or behaving in class. 
• Grades are NOT a "gotcha" or karma. 
• Grades are NOT a measure of how much a child is liked, appreciated, helpful, kind, social, etc...
• Grades are NOT so many things! 

Looking for ways to:

-thank a student for kindness?  

-reward a child for bringing back a permission slip?  

-thank students for bringing in needed supplies?  

-bringing in their one-to-one device fully charged or a pencil?  

-bringing in completed homework? (Grade for accuracy, not just completion)  

-simply "doing" an assignment regardless of accuracy? 

How about "Thank You" notes, a smile, a high-five, a compliment or an acknowledgement.

Using grades for anything but a measure of knowledge is improper use, and very confusing for students. In the ways listed above, grades are being weaponized, bastardized and personalized. 

Grading is a tool that is used to help students know what they have learned and what they have yet to learn. Really, that is all. To use them any other way is a failure on our part to measure student success.

It's quite simple. Ready for the quiz on grade usage? I'll bet you'll get 100%!