Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments From Degrading to De-Grading

I don't trust a lot of what Alfie Kohn writes, but have found some merit in the occasional piece of his. So I like to think I'm somewhat open-minded when I approach his writings. Overall, though, I tend to see him as being led by ideology.

He has a point about people having OCD over grades. College admissions committees and tiger parents, in particular, drive this kind of thing, and they make most people miserable as a result. At the same time, this problem isn't the fault of the grades themselves. It's the fault of people who want to judge humans by using industrial metrics that are best suited to analyzing the quality of widgets made in a factory (GPA, SAT scores, extracurricular scores, etc.). Students aren't widgets.

IMO, grades are used best as a means of determining how well a student has learned some material. This is how I think they should be used: "you got a D on that test about fractions. We'll go over the material again for a week or two, and then you can try again. You can't move forward until you get a C, but you should try for at least B." Systems like the Khan Academy try to do this: sorry, you can't move forward until you get n right in a row. We could argue about the details, but the basic idea is good. Optimally, grades should be used to identify strengths & weaknesses, and their primary function should to help enhance learning.

So on the one hand, unfortunately, our hyper-competitive system doesn't work like this. Kohn makes some really good points in that regard ("when students arrive in high school already accustomed to grades, already primed to ask teachers, “Do we have to know this?” or “What do I have to do to get an A?”, this is a sign that something is very wrong.")

On the other hand, some of his points are a bit out there ("abolishing grades opens up possibilities that are far more meaningful and constructive. These include narratives [written comments], portfolios [carefully chosen collections of students’ writings and projects that demonstrate their interests, achievement, and improvement over time"]).

IMO, he's throwing the baby out with the bathwater there. Qualitative assessment has its place, but he ignores the fact that it's even more subjective than he claims grades are.