The Ethics of Grading
Jan. 18th, 2007 12:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
talkstowolvesGrading is a very interesting idea. It's a scheme claiming that learning is quantifiable, that we can measure in solid terms what a child derives from a class, from time spent under another's tutelage. I find this almost laughable: some skills can be measured, maybe, but often the entire grading process just encourages rote memorization and the conditioning of a student to meet a particular instructor's requirements. It's just a symbol for something amorphous that can deepen in one instant and recede in the next.
Enough about that: my ideas on grading are still a bit muddled and being pondered. However, teaching at a high school as I do, I find myself needing to give grades now. I populate my courses with tests and quizzes and daily grades and participation assessment. I tally the scores and divvy up percentages. I derive a number. And sometimes I arbitrarily change it.
I admit: if a student is teetering on the edge of a higher grade and has demonstrated a willingness and commitment to learning in the classroom, I might bump them up. If a student has been completely lackluster, demonstrating apathy and derision, I won't. I'll leave it be and damn them to learn the lesson. I don't consider this assigning grades, but rather assessing the grade a student has earned with their spirit as well as hard numbers.
This grading period, however, I gave a student an entire letter grade. I outright added 10 points to his final grade average for the period. He didn't particularly deserve them: he's a good kid, but he doesn't apply himself. He's got his priorities mixed up and lets his schoolwork fall by the wayside. I'm big on helping students and doing everything I can for them... if they just show me they are trying. They just have to reach out half-way. They have to make some sort of attempt.
So why did I basically give this kid a grade that would allow him to pass? (For, yes, he was failing.)
Because his dad would literally beat the shit out of him if he came home with failing grades. This student and his mother have experienced long-term abuse at the hands of his father. The administration is apparently aware of this, although it came to light for me more slowly. I remember meeting this student's father after the beginning of the year: I thought it was just a routine Parent Teacher conference, a concerned parent looking out for his child's progress. After five minutes in the room with the man, I felt myself tensing up and breaking out in a cold sweat, desperate to get out of his presence. What started as a typical conversation about classroom performance turned into a litany of how this man would beat his child, if only the law allowed him to do so.
Things had apparently gotten better for this kid since he and his mom moved out from his dad's. But mom's gone back and my fear for the boy has grown. Today, Andy and I advised the administration to please alert DHR to this situation. I'm going to check back with them tomorrow and then do it myself tomorrow afternoon if they've done nothing.
Yeah, sometimes I'll arbitrarily assign a student a grade. But I know what the price tag is on that supposed dishonesty and I don't mind paying it. Changing a mark on a piece of paper so that a boy can avoid further harm? Sign me up. I don't consider myself morally compromised at all.
Enough about that: my ideas on grading are still a bit muddled and being pondered. However, teaching at a high school as I do, I find myself needing to give grades now. I populate my courses with tests and quizzes and daily grades and participation assessment. I tally the scores and divvy up percentages. I derive a number. And sometimes I arbitrarily change it.
I admit: if a student is teetering on the edge of a higher grade and has demonstrated a willingness and commitment to learning in the classroom, I might bump them up. If a student has been completely lackluster, demonstrating apathy and derision, I won't. I'll leave it be and damn them to learn the lesson. I don't consider this assigning grades, but rather assessing the grade a student has earned with their spirit as well as hard numbers.
This grading period, however, I gave a student an entire letter grade. I outright added 10 points to his final grade average for the period. He didn't particularly deserve them: he's a good kid, but he doesn't apply himself. He's got his priorities mixed up and lets his schoolwork fall by the wayside. I'm big on helping students and doing everything I can for them... if they just show me they are trying. They just have to reach out half-way. They have to make some sort of attempt.
So why did I basically give this kid a grade that would allow him to pass? (For, yes, he was failing.)
Because his dad would literally beat the shit out of him if he came home with failing grades. This student and his mother have experienced long-term abuse at the hands of his father. The administration is apparently aware of this, although it came to light for me more slowly. I remember meeting this student's father after the beginning of the year: I thought it was just a routine Parent Teacher conference, a concerned parent looking out for his child's progress. After five minutes in the room with the man, I felt myself tensing up and breaking out in a cold sweat, desperate to get out of his presence. What started as a typical conversation about classroom performance turned into a litany of how this man would beat his child, if only the law allowed him to do so.
Things had apparently gotten better for this kid since he and his mom moved out from his dad's. But mom's gone back and my fear for the boy has grown. Today, Andy and I advised the administration to please alert DHR to this situation. I'm going to check back with them tomorrow and then do it myself tomorrow afternoon if they've done nothing.
Yeah, sometimes I'll arbitrarily assign a student a grade. But I know what the price tag is on that supposed dishonesty and I don't mind paying it. Changing a mark on a piece of paper so that a boy can avoid further harm? Sign me up. I don't consider myself morally compromised at all.