"What My Grades Mean"

I must begin by stating what I say to my students on the topic of grading: “Grades are earned, not given.” Of course, as we all know and as is indicated in the text from Nitko and Brookhart, grading is subjective to a degree yet, as long as one’s assessments are well planned and appropriate measures have been taken to ensure their reliability, that degree is minimal and acceptable based on the “consistency and fairness in [his/her] professional judgment” (43). However, especially because English is seen as a more subjective discipline than math, for example, students are popularly of the opinion that their grades in English are determined largely by their teachers’ personal—rather than professional—opinions. This misunderstanding undermines the importance of building and improving upon their literacy skill-sets, trivializes the knowledge to be gained through the study of literature, and diminishes students’ sense of agency. So, it is against this presumption that I so adamantly insist that “grades are earned, not given.”

That said, the grades I “give” are numeric, 0-100, with anything below a 65 indicating course failure or “F.” A “D,” then, is any grade between 65-69. Students whose grades are in the 70’s have earned “C’s.” Grades in the 80’s are “B’s.” A 90 or above is an “A.” Because our system at Brockport High School is numeric, there is little distinction made between pluses and minuses but I personally apply the sensibility that from 0-2 at any level, e.g. 80-82, is a minus while 7-9, e.g. 87-89, is a plus. Notably, we do offer many Advanced Placement courses to our students and participate in a 3-1-3 program with SUNY Brockport, which is designed to give students a head start on their post-secondary education though three years of high school and a year of combined high school and college work, making a four-year degree achievable in only three years thereafter. Because classes for these programs are considered to be at the college level, the correspondence of letter and number grades shifts somewhat. Our high school multiplies students’ grades in these courses by 1.05 for the purposes of class rank. Meanwhile, when teachers report letter grades to the college for 3-1-3 students, SUNY Brockport provides a different conversion chart. Until I begin teaching AP Language and Composition in the fall of our next school year, however, I can comment more meaningfully on the previously described grade ranges.

In my Regents level English courses, I generally consider it to be as difficult to fail as it is to get an “A” based on a reasonable amount of effort and participation. That is, students whose attendance falls within the acceptable range determined by our school board (which includes being present in class at least 85% of the time) and who regularly complete class and homework assignments can expect to pass but should not necessarily consider themselves to be successful in the class until other habits, knowledge, and skills have been demonstrated as well. Indeed, a “D” grade is an indication that the student is performing in the borderline range and has likely earned credit based primarily on effort while struggling to achieve many (but not all) of the other standards. To earn a “C” or grade in the 70’s, however, a student’s performance must observably, measurably indicate evident ability in each of the four standard areas defined by the state. Since I teach upperclassmen, students cannot earn a “C” or higher if this is not done at the intermediate level. Once I have obtained evidence of students’ development or mastery at the commencement level, their grades obviously improve to the extent that developing students earn a “B” while those demonstrating mastery will get an “A.” The difference between these levels of performance is included in a thorough description of all the state standards on the New York State Education Department website at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/ela/pub/elalearn.pdf.

Using the suggested evidence of listening and speaking for standard two, literary response and expression, I cite the following example to demonstrate and clarify how students’ grades relate to what they can and cannot do. In an analytical response to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, a failing student may or may not participate in the assessment. He or she may confuse or lack details that convey any knowledge of the text. A “D” student may correctly identify the use of foreshadowing in the text but fail to anchor his/her interpretation to its use, whereas a “C” student would make the connection. Because students at the commencement level are expected to not only consider genre and literary elements but also context and milieu in their analyses, a “B” student might acknowledge a greater number of elements in his/her interpretation and situate the novella in the Great Depression. An “A” student would effectively anchor his/her interpretation using a variety of literary elements and distinguish the text, identifying it as an example of Depression-era literature, from a piece of literature written in another period or tradition. Differences in grades might also be considered in terms of the taxonomies we have discussed in class. Just as the dimensions of cognition increase in difficulty from knowledge to evaluation according to Bloom, students’ grades improve based on their demonstrated ability to do more complex thinking. By this notion, students who struggle with synthesis or evaluation should not expect an above average grade of “B” or “A.”

Referring to Figure 15.3 on page 339 of the text, I disagree with Nitko and Brookhart regarding some of the uses of grades attributed to different stakeholders, especially since there is no distinction made between what is and is not appropriate. For example, I hardly think it is a semantic argument to say that administrators may consider a teacher’s assessment practices in judging his/her competence or fairness but should never use one’s students’ grades for such purposes—unless, perhaps, the administrators hope to invite unwarranted inflation of those grades! On the other hand, parents largely lack the education, experience and knowledge of the profession to judge a teacher’s competence or fairness in any way, let alone based on something like grades, which is the reason for the extensive certification requirements of teachers and for the democratic election of school board officials to oversee/approve the hiring and firing of educational professionals. Another problem I have with Figure 15.3 is the limited scope of students’ usage for grades, which does not include much of the reflective use that should be of primary importance to them. However, I do not disagree with any of the uses that are included as being of likely use to the them and I believe that my grading does especially encourage reaffirmation of what is already known about classroom achievement as well as documenting one’s progress. This is true because I provide timely and extensive qualitative feedback on students’ strengths and weaknesses. This is communicated via written comments and one-on-one conferencing in conjunction with numeric grades that make charting one’s progress relatively easy to accomplish for the student as well as for parents and school administrators.

In terms of how well my grading system fulfills the needs of parents, I have difficulty reconciling my ideal of how parents should use grades with the reality. I agree with the text that some parents put too much emphasis on grades, harmfully exerting pressure on and diminishing the agency of their children but disagree that the concern is more or less warranted based on the frequency of its occurrence (341). Again, because I teach upperclassmen, I hope to encourage a more reflective consideration of grading by the students themselves. While I understand and, to a reasonable degree, support parents’ assignment of extrinsic punishment and reward based on their children’s academic performance, I do not think that my grades are outwardly meaningful enough to be used in that purpose. If a parent is in contact with me regarding his/her child’s behavior in my class, apparent effort toward or prioritization of learning the skills and content being taught, and/or specific strengths and weaknesses, I fully support them in deciding positive or negative consequences accordingly. However, judging by the number itself without a thorough understanding of what was being assessed is inappropriate. I do not believe my grades are any more or less effective in fulfilling that need than any other teacher’s may be. On the other hand, because my grades jive with the expectations of my district and state, I have less difficulty supporting the use of my grades by counselors or administrators to determine eligibility for extra-curricular participation or to make decisions regarding course placement and fulfillment of graduation requirements.