Happy with Perfection

I'm not a fan of most grading schemes, and haven't been for several years. One of the problems is how the grade expectations have changed. It used to be that the goal was a C, with the understanding that only above average would get B's and the superior students would get A's. This is no more. An A means you did the job right, in most classes.

As one of the students who could coast on talent, I rarely had reason to push myself. The system doesn't have proper means implemented to handle such cases, and my case is but one example of the problems caused by current form of assesments. Parents are happy to hear their children are getting top marks, perfection, when if their children are in tougher classes, getting lower marks, they could be growing more. So, I'll share with you some of the problems I see with the current grading approach.

Coasting Clear:

This is the problem I came across, and trains talented people to be lazy. If you aren't having trouble, you don't have a challenge. Students who are not having trouble are low priority for teachers and the school system. Students who are doing poorly are the ones who the teachers are focusing on.

This is the source of boredom that causes plenty of behavior problems, besides being lazy. Remember the saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"? Some people will cause a problem so they can get the attention the should be getting, only it gets them into trouble. Daydreamers may not be paying attention because they don't need to pay attention to do well enough. I commonly draw in math classes and have since middle school.

Excommunicated Extra-credit:

With the focus to bring students up to grade, the higher end of the class is left to fend for themselves to improve. In Coasting Clear, the point is that the talented don't have a challenge. In this point, the point is that there is little to no recognition for going above and beyond what is asked for. Without recognition to motivate students, there is little to nothing to motivate students to put out effort.

It would be interesting to have a pure effort grade. First there would be something to reward those who do everything that is assigned. Then there would be a way for people to earn points they missed on assigned work through extra-curricular activities. Along with a GPA, there could also be an EPA, Effort Point Average or Equivalent Point Average. The first says that it shows the average effort put into class topics while the second says what their point average would be with "equivalent" work included.

Fictional Failure:

This is about how the system currently just measures messing up. It's like being told at the start of a class that everybody has an A. All you can do is maintain, or see your grade drop and deal with it. Over time you can improve your grade, but perfect can never be reached again.

With the above suggestion, there would be a very interesting possibility to allow above 100% grading. In this way, the grades can show percent like values compared to what is asked of them. A perfect EPA score wouldn't be the best possible, but rather showing that you put out sufficient effort to earn back any points lost in assigned work. That is something employers would find interesting, because it shows doing more than just the assigned, dealing with mistakes and a work ethic to do what is needed.

Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan

Happy with Perfection

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