This year I'm serious about my New Year's resolution: Eliminate traditional grades in every school
My 2014 resolution is far more daunting than shaving a few golf strokes or cutting out fast food. This year, I'm promising to change education forever.
I'm going to encourage teachers everywhere to stop grading their students, using points, percentages and letters.
It may be crazy, but. . .
Sure, this may seem like an inconceivable, ridiculous, completely crazy idea.
After all, wasn't flying a plane inconceivable? Wasn't the microwave a ridiculous idea? I mean who in his right mind would eat something exposed to radiation? Wasn't the Smartphone a completely crazy thought? Could an internet-ready computer and high-functioning video camera really be placed inside a four-inch mobile device?
If these outrageous inventions could become realities, revolutionizing travel, eating and communication, why can't assessment be changed?
The plan
Any successful resolution or goal needs a plan. Here's how I intend to stop traditional grading in its tracks in 2014:
- Share this 5-step blueprint for eliminating grades with teachers nationwide often.
- Enlist the help of educators in my Personal Learning Network. This must be a widespread grassroots effort.
- Create open forums with parents and school leaders about the value of SE2R feedback over traditional grades (more on this later).
- Write about the power of feedback and the failure of grades. There's plenty of prose coming on this subject.
- Get the publishing lobby to buy in. I've been hard on education publishers, like Pearson, who capitalize on education reforms, like the Common Core. What if a powerhouse publisher decided to put its resources behind narrative feedback? Imagine the possibilities.
So, in 2014, I'm going to war, and my enemy is traditional grades.
Are you ready to join the fight?
Hey Mark! I'm with you! How do you plan to track student mastery without grading? I work for a company called Gradeable which might be useful to you. We are a grading and digital assessment tool designed to track student mastery (like CCSS) to facilitate the feedback loop. Give us a shout if you're interested. Either way, happy new year and more power to ya!
ReplyDeleteThis question comes up often when I present at conferences and workshops. Narrative feedback, using my SE2R system provides all the information needed, and it's far more effective than data, driven by points, percentages and letters. I discuss this at length and provide examples in my book, Role Reversal.
DeleteI am interested in what you're doing with Gradeable. I will investigate further.
Thanks for weighing in on this important matter.
First of all, I love the idea of feedback instead of grades and have slowly been moving in that direction for a while now. Reading your piece brought up a few questions for me. What age do you work with and do you see this method as applicable across the board? How much time does this take? Do you use this method with every assignment, or only some? When you involve students in grading themselves (for report cards) do use some type of process whereby they look back at their work/progress?
ReplyDeleteYou ask a lot of good questions. Students and I do look back on work for a grading period and discuss the report card grade. I have worked primarily with middle schoolers, but I believe feedback works with all grades.
DeleteI'll address your other questions in a full blog post in a day or two. Please check back.
Hoo rah! Let's do this!!! I am in
ReplyDeleteNo way youth needs to know F mean fail. Not well let's talk about it blah blah this is y we already are trying young people that skim Threw life. Were to soft any more.
ReplyDelete