In response to the 8/18/15 post, “Pass / Fail,” a LYS Assistant Superintendent (and one of the really big brains in education today) writes:

SC,

Amen and AMEN!! Grading could very well be the greatest obstacle to innovative teaching and deep, meaningful learning.

SC Response I cannot agree more.  The amazing thing to me is that when pressed, educators will admit the grades:

1. Do not motivate most students.

2. Do not accurately measure the level of student content knowledge.

3. Have no inter-rater reliability.

4. Are more subjective, than objective.

5. Are (much more often than we want to admit) used a weapon.

And on and on.  And the reason we continue to engage in this practice usually falls into three categories:

A. We’ve always done it this way.

B. Parents want it this way.

C. We don’t know what else to do.

I can sum up my feelings about this situation in one word… Sad.

Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…

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