FIAE Chapter 8: Why Do We Grade, and What About Effort, Attendance, and Behavior?

This chapter focuses on what grades should be and what the purpose of grades should not be. Grades should represent the students’ mastery of the material and the purpose is to communicate that mastery to the students and their parents and for instructional changes for the teacher. Grading should not include participation. Participation is the route that leads to mastery and if mastery is what counts, it does not matter how the student arrived there. Feedback should be given for participation, but it will distort the grade if it is included and the grade will be an inaccurate account of the students’ mastery. Also including behavior or effort in the grade will distort the grade. Students’ behavior and effort are important, after all school is the place where students grow and find themselves, and teaching those skills is necessary. However, they should not be included in the grade. Those factors contribute to what grade the student earns but they should be recorded in a column separate from the grade. This will affect me as a teacher by convincing me not to grade participation. I have had a lot of teachers grade participation and it motivated me to speak during class. But a lot of the time I spent the entire class thinking of something to say so I could get my points and as soon as I said my piece, I did not bother to pay attention anymore. This affects my students by allowing them the free will to speak. It will not punish any students’ grade if they have a bad week and are just generally unpleasant and misbehave.