De-Grading Point Averages

It seems truly brilliant methods frequently become buried in masses of much less brilliant ones.

The sparsely-used college grading system of narrative evaluation has been ignored, in favor of the grading scale. Narrative evaluation consists of comprehensive written and oral feedback of student performance rather than distribution of A through F letters. It sets learning--rather than merely achieving the highest score--as its benchmark of success. The narrative system is the golden path to ensure quality education.

Some U.S. liberal arts colleges fully implement narrative evaluation and do not even issue grades at all. Among these are the New College of Florida in Sarasota; Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio; Bennington College in Bennington, Vt.; The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.; and Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.

Their methods are brilliant.

But as brilliant as they are, these colleges are in the severe minority. And the much less brilliant grading scale takes precedence in nearly all institutions of higher education.

Now, let me assure you this is not coming from a cynical, struggling student. In fact, I was quite the opposite of this but am bothered that the profound value of education is continuously reduced to simplistic measurements of achievement. I've found that many times, grades are not compatible with true student performance or aptitude. In general, I believe the grading system has failed to empower working hard, learning well and producing quality assignments.

Allow me to illustrate my point. While attending Flagler College, I tutored math for four years to the students there. It was so much fun and tremendously rewarding. Still, I noticed that some of the students who came in the lab every day, did all of their assigned work (plus some) and gave 110 percent toward their academics, ended up with mediocre grades.

I watched these students make leaps and bounds from the first time I met them. I saw them work diligently, learn actively and enjoy math. A male student even looked up at me during a session and said," Wow, this is kind of fun when you actually know how to do it."

I loved moments like these. And hated that these individuals received a C as their final grade because of nothing more than a flawed system. They were A workers and A learners--but their grade point average didn't reflect that.

Why? Because the grading system itself is defective.

That defect is predominantly caused by poorly weighted tests and assignments, which opens up all sorts of miscarriages of justice. For instance, if there are three equally weighted tests a semester, and a student fails the first one, earns a C on the second and gets an A on the third, his/her final average is a C. The grade doesn't show that the student went from an F to an A in just two tests. It doesn't take improvement into account and assumes that a student is no better off at the end of a semester than at the beginning of one.

Assistant professor at Flagler College Nadia Ramoutar combated this dilemma by giving progressively greater weight to each progressive assignment. Magazine Writing consisted of three articles, with each one counting for 100 more points than the preceding one. That way, the final article in the class was worth three times as much as the first. Such a method encouraged improvement and enforced the learning process. I appreciated that Ramoutar found a deeper approach that made the received grade conducive to genuine education.

However, her methods aren't typical. Many professors stick to poorly distributed weights and percentages, even though they don't do so intentionally.

So whether it's done officially or not, narrative evaluation is the optimum way to go. I think it's a good practice to encourage open communication, positive relationships and constructive feedback in higher education. I support students who continuously strive to learn better, create higher quality work and find more areas in which to excel. The students who sincerely commit themselves to achievement and education will be astoundingly more marketable when they graduate than those who only had grade point averages in their myopic field of vision.

And that education goes both ways. Quite a few professors at Flagler asked us at the end of the term, "Is there anything I can change about my class to make it better? Do you feel like you learned a lot? Was there anything else you wanted to do, but I didn't give you the opportunity to do?" Educators who ask these questions are the reason that students come to class.

My message to students: Don't buy into the hype. I encourage you to work hard, learn well and produce quality work. Remember that your employer will hire you off these things--not your grades. Some professors might give you lower grades than you think you deserve--don't mind it--arguing is meaningless. Grade disputations are unconstructive and unproductive, so just accept what you get. If you're a good student, know and believe that--don't allow a piece of paper to prove otherwise or rely on a flawed system for validation.

My message to professors: I encourage that your system be reasonable. Though I don't condone subjective grading, I do encourage a fair and valid evaluation of student performance instead of a fruitless blind adherence to the math. If you don't feel the numbers are truly measuring student performance and learning, consider revising your methods so they will fit better for future classes. And never lose sight of the reason you chose to go into teaching in the first place. Keep your office doors open.

To wrap this up, I believe everyone affiliated with the educational system, may it be faculty members or students, should attempt to make true education their main priority. Keep in mind that emphasized grading often leads to de-emphasized learning for all parties involved.

So is this an A article? I don't know. Frankly, I don't care. I do care if my readers take something out of it. I do care if intelligent people find it quality writing. I do care if I enjoy writing it. Because at the end of the day, education is about going to bed knowing that you worked toward a greater purpose and had a heck of a fun time doing it, not about whether a red-inked A is at the top or not.