Why do all your students have 100%?

This is one of those questions or comments that I get all the time. “All your students get 100.” “Your class must be easy if everyone gets 100.” And my favorite one, “You can’t give everyone a 100 because I can’t defend that to a parent when the student is failing everything else.” And that was from a former administrator..

Why can’t my students get 100%? Isn’t that what mastery is all about? We want our students to master the skills and ideas that we are teaching. My class is not a one and done type of environment. It is a space where failure and iterati犀利士 on is celebrated and encouraged, albeit sometimes with some sarcasm and joking. This is great as long as we fail forward.

Another aspect of the number grading system is compliance. It shows that I can recite information. It is lower level thinking skills. It is conformity to a norm. No real learning goes on here. If we present information in a sit and get lecture environment and test on a multiple choice test, what are we actually testing? I believe that we are just measuring knowledge. What can I recall and recite? No application or analysis. No way to apply this to a new or unique situation.

My final thought on grades is this…..are traditional grades the participation trophy of education? I have heard it said that students today have changed. I say, no they have not. What has changed is our expectations of them. I will admit that I have lowered the bar on some of my projects. So many teachers give grades for just showing up. Think about that, just showing up.

Number grades should just go away. Skills, competencies, standards. That is what we should be measuring. We want, no we NEED, students that can come out of high school being able to think, analyze and create. And we need to hold the students accountable for their work.