First of all, let me make it clear that I am not asking why we assess students. These are two different questions in my opinion. What follows arose from an email/essay I wrote over 14 years ago when I was working with the Coalition of Essential Schools (So sad to see that Ted Sizer passed away recently!). I have updated some of it, but most of my questions remain the same.

There are multiple ways to determine how students will be assessed and what yardsticks are appropriate with which to measure students. Let us consider some of them.

If the point of grading students is to measure their own progress and abilities, is it not appropriate to completely individualize the goals for each student and grade them according to these goals? For instance, consider the chronically truant student. Might not a goal be for them to come to class on time and every day? Shouldn’t they receive an ‘A’ for meeting that goal? If we set the goal for a student who has demonstrated talent in a particular area to be to turn in exemplary work, shouldn’t they receive an ‘A’ for meeting that goal?

Now, if grading is to measure the amount of content a student masters, then it would be more appropriate to set certain criteria for all students and grade them against their ability to master those criteria. A student who masters all would receive an ‘A’ and those students who mastered none would receive an ‘F.’ Of course, this method fails to take into account individual abilities, home life, interests, social class, or career/college aspirations. This, however, seems to be the prevailing philosophy behind NCLB and the movement to national standards.

Thirdly, is the purpose of grading to compare students to each other? If so, then all we teachers need to do is present material, assess performance on the tests and assignments, and then compute final grades based on a curve. Half the students are above average and half below, and statisticians are happy. Of course, against what group do we set the norm? Within one classroom? By teacher? Grade level? School? District? County? State? Country? Obviously this is how standardized tests are already set up. Some, such as the ones my school uses, gives us several groups against which to measure our students. At the same time, test writers are less concerned about what the students know and more about do the questions provide enough of a “spread” to rank the students.

Fourth, do we approach this holistically and write a paragraph or an essay about each student describing their strengths and weaknesses in detail and not assign any grade. My school has done a simple version of this – although in conjunction with letter grades – and I know of other schools that only do this. However, with teacher loads of 60, 80, 120, or even 350 students (my wife had this for several years, so I am not making it up!) this is difficult at best and downright impossible at worst. Additionally, who is to say that my judgment is the same as yours or anyone else for that matter? Do we train teachers to make these judgments impartially? Who will train them and how? I know the AP does this for grading their exams, but that is one test a year (in each subject) and it is a gargantuan task. Besides, don’t we want individual differences between teachers?

Fifth, how do we integrate these disparate methods? Which method is appropriate for which situation, and how do we do it fairly? Is it enough to inform the students ahead of time and expect them (and their parents) to follow along? What if the students do not have the experience to trust that the system works? Any school should make conversations about assessments a priority on a regular basis. It is too easy to become complacent in the face of the day-to-day work of teaching.

One more important component to this whole discussion is what does the community think? Regardless of which method of assessing students is chosen (or some amalgam of the options), does the community understand and accept what the “grade” is telling them about their child? If not, what must be done? Should the school conform to what the community expects? Should the school do what it feels is right and expect the strength of its program to meet any arguments? Should there be a happy medium? Most would probably agree that a compromise is ideal, but who compromises and how much?

Although I wrote the original email on March 27, 1995, these questions continue to rattle around in my head. I left the school I was at when I wrote this email the following December due to enormous community pressure. I am now at another school where we deal with the spectre of grade inflation. I still struggle with what is the best way to assign a value to what my students have learned. In addition, I think that this discussion is not limited to the traditional A-F (or A-E) grading system. Any system that reduces the assessment to a single label (even rubrics!) fits.