Stress is an undeniable truth of high school, especially at our school. A key source of that stress is grades. In efforts to reduce competition or anxiety among students, some classes have moved away from the traditional grading model.
Take Honors Physics, for example. Students take tests where they are awarded a green light if they understand the material, a yellow light if their work needs improvement, or a red light if they completely miss the mark. In theory, this could work. Students can track their progress without tying their learning, or self-worth, to a letter.
Yet, no one received a yellow on their report card at the end of the year. The colors are ultimately converted into a letter grade. The method of conversion is based on progress through the year, which is vague and leaves some students worrying about what grade they will receive after a year of colors. Letter grades are the reality of our school, so why is there so much variety across departments?
It’s natural for grading to vary between subjects. A score on a math test is often more objective—it counts how many questions you got right and how many you got wrong. An essay, however, is a whole other story. Your grade depends on a wide range of variables: who your teacher is, which specific assignment and rubric you are being graded on, and, as some may argue, how well your peers performed.
The process of moving away from traditional grading models has also created a large amount of variation between and within departments. In the English department, an A- is only awarded to students with “outstanding” Junior Profiles. But, in AP Physics, many students fail nearly every test of the year and still receive an A.
A second source of inconsistency is reassessment policies. Some math classes offer a retake for any test for a full replacement of the grade, while others only allow a retake on a test grade below an 80%, and some only offer corrections for a portion of the points back. Some teachers offer edits on papers, and some offer none. This leaves the ability to change a score after receiving a grade up to the lottery of which teacher you have.
Some might argue that there is no need for grades at all. You have to gauge your own learning and not seek external validation for your achievements, some claim. Honestly, whoever says that has never gone to our school. As much as we value our own internal validation, grades do have an impact on what we do and where we go after high school.
Attempting to remove stress from school is a noble pursuit. However, changing the grading system simply creates more stress. The best way to lower stress is to use the system we know best.
