What does this teach?

Filed in Thoughts on October 28, 2009



We get graded papers every week from our children.  If all I looked at were the grades themselves, I would be patting myself on the back for raising 4 geniuses.  But I have learned that looking at the grades themselves is a mistake because the grades are often wrong.  At least I think so.  I would love to get your feedback.

For example, last night, I looked at a math quiz one of my children took.  The grade was 100.

But then I noticed that there were 16 questions on the quiz and my child had missed two of them.  One of them was just a simple problem with one step that could only be right or wrong.  The other problem involved multiplying two 3-digit numbers together. 

So how can you get 100 if you miss two out of 16 problems?  As I remember things, the teacher used to divide the number of correct answers by the total number of questions.  Getting 14 out of 16 correct meant you got a 88.  Even if you counted the multiplication problem as a multi-step problem where partial credit is appropriate, the grade should have been at most in the low 90's.  (In my opinion, a problem like that should be either right or wrong with no partial credit.)

There was a potential to get 2 bonus points and my child got them.  So, the grade should have been 90.  If partial credit was given on the multiplication problem, the grade should have been around 93 or so.  Certainly, it should not be an A, and most certainly not an A+.

So, where did 100 come from?  The teacher took off just one point for each incorrect problem.  The two bonus points offset those deductions.  By the way, does this mean that a student missed every problem, they would still get a 84?

Now I have strong feelings about this kind of grading, and I am afraid to say it is not positive.  What are we teaching kids when we give them 100 for getting only 14 out of 16 problems right?  In my mind, that is conditioning them to be mediocre.  It is conditioning them to be careless too.

And of course, I have to be the bad guy when I have to point out to my children that they shouldn't feel overly smug about good grades when they really didn't earn them.  Those are not pleasant conversations, and frankly, it annoys me that I have to have them.

I don’t know what is driving grade inflation.  It could be the parents or the schools or perhaps children are less intelligent all of a sudden (highly unlikely).  But I do know that focusing on grades rather than what is actually being learned is a problem.  The grades that children get before high school are meaningless.  I am more interested that my children are building character and acquiring skills that will help them know how to learn. 

When did this grade inflation start and is it warranted?  What is driving it?  And am I way off base?  Please tell me what you think this kind of grading teaches kids.



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Danny Gardner
10/28/2009 2:36:10 PM

I completely agree with you Mr. Howlett. While that kind of grading didn't take place when I was that age (nearly a decade ago), it was certainly far too easy. Several people in my classes could simply pay attention in class and make straight A's. So it seems as though we're teaching kids to feel great about a grade that didn't require much if any effort. I pray that we all do things heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men.

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