One Teacher’s Thoughts on Grading Amid a Pandemic
My best class of the ‘20-‘21 school year occurred in early December. It was a seventh grade social studies class, and the topic was U.S. immigration policy. Students discussed three basic questions in Zoom breakout groups, and then they reported their conclusions (or lack thereof) back to the main room after each session. Participation was nearly universal, as students voiced their opinions and took time (sometimes after I politely muted them) to listen to the opinions of others. The class ran well past the allotted 45 minutes as students willfully forfeited their virtual lunch periods to continue the debate. It was a (virtual) teacher’s dream.
Satisfied and proud, I closed the Zoom call, looked in my Google Classroom, and thought, “How am I going to grade that?”
A brief history of grades
Even before 2020, grades were an imperfect way to measure academic success. Anyone who has attended or taught in a school would almost certainly agree that the skills required to gain a true understanding of world history are not the same skills required to memorize a series of dates, facts, and vocabulary words.
Grades seem like they’ve been around forever, but — as bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari points out in Homo Deus — grades are a relatively recent invention. Harari writes, “An undergraduate in Shakespeare’s day left Oxford with one of only two possible results - with a degree, or without one. Nobody thought of giving one student a final mark of 74 and another student an 88.”
Originally introduced a few centuries ago as a way to motivate students, grades became a way to punish and shame the non-compliant after school became compulsory in many countries in the late 1800s. From there, grades led to report cards, which led to grade point averages and transcripts. Now, grades factor heavily into determining scholarships, college acceptances, athletic eligibility, and more.
Grading in 2020
The flaws of grades have been exacerbated by the pandemic, virtual learning, and the drastically unequal home situations of students in the same class. I met Carl (a pseudonym) in person at the end of October as I was hand-delivering a few candy buckets as rewards for perfect virtual attendance. He was next on my list. I had just left the home of a student who greeted me at the door with both his educator parents who were also home teaching virtually. When I rang the doorbell at Carl’s house, there was a long period of silence, followed by the pitter-patter of several pairs of little feet, followed by little eyes looking at me through the window. Carl, recognizing my Zoom celebrity, slowly opened the door to reveal three siblings under the age of five behind him. It was clear to me that Carl was taking care of all three.
After meeting Carl, I began to focus much less on assessment and more on engagement. September questions like, “How can I teach all these standards and keep students from falling behind?” have been replaced by December questions like, “How can I maximize engagement and ensure students are learning new skills?” My grading philosophy has changed in three ways:
If students are attending and trying, they at least deserve to pass. I understand the struggle in terms of keeping students from falling behind, but failing them risks losing them to other distractions at home.
High grades can (and should) continue to be used as motivators. I’m also noticing some students who will strive for As, and these students still deserve to be rewarded as such.
Students like Carl need to be engaged, not tested. I recall telling myself at the beginning of the school year (August) that whatever my plan looks like now, it will be different come December. Boy, was I right. My virtual notebook, test reviews, and unit exam ideas have given way to three daily vocabulary words, Zoom breakout group discussions on simple questions, and heavily-scaffolded research projects.
Students are adapting
My students and I are finding our rhythm, and I recently apologized to them for how bad my assignments were in September. Like them, I was getting used to the virtual environment, and there were quite a few growing pains. In many states, virtual learning will continue through January, at least, and, while we still have room to grow, I’m impressed with our progress to this point.
It’s difficult to predict the future, but it seems likely that the skills students and teachers are being forced to learn — Zoom, Google Suite, and so on — will be useful to us to some degree in the future. Some may even realize they prefer it. For now, engaging lessons are the top priority.
A career educator, Sean Galvin holds a PhD in education from Eastern Michigan University and a master's in education from the University of Michigan. Currently a middle school teacher for Battle Creek Public Schools, he has taught and run student mentorship and enrichment programs at both the high school and middle school levels. Hisdissertation covers the role of mentorship and student incentives in driving learning outcomes.