Friday, July 29, 2005

Changes in grading procedures in Florida County The Education Wonks have commented on a letter to the editor in Palm Beach County Florida in which a frustrated parent complains about the new grading procedures at her child's elementary school. Instead of receiving the traditional A, B, C, etc. letter grade, students report cards would read "at or above grade level", "below grade level" etc. The parent has a legitimate gripe. In this grading system, even though essentially letter grades have been replaced with descriptive statements, the best that a students can do on his or her report card is "C or above". There is no place for the recognition of excellence. I'm sure there is a "politically correct" overly-sensitive self-esteem-ism rationale for the grading system. I do not think that kids who don't get A's suffer from feelings of inferiority becasue other students get A's. If you suffer from feelings of inferiority it is not becasue someone has done better than you. It is becasue you have believed society's lie that your worth is based on your performance. Our society is right to recognize that peope have strengths and weaknesses in given areas. Professional athletes are faster, stronger and more agile than most of us. Physicists at Harvard are brighter than the majority. It is when society then attaches personal worth or value to those things that it is wrong. When our society values entertainment (escapism) so highly that celebrities, moviemakers and professional athletes make exhorbitant amounts of money and teachers make squat, then you see the injustice in society. Excellence is good, and should be celebrated. Therefore excellent students ought to be recognized with an A or a "5 years above grade level" report. As should a beautiful sonata be listened to and enjoyed more readily than your average short-lived pop song. But children should be taught that we all have different gifts and that one person's gifts are no less valuable in the eyes of their maker than another's. Our job is to find our gifts, relish in them, and use them for the benefit of society. If people understood that, then no one would feel the need to shun praise in order to protect someone else's fragile self-esteem. 3:57:29 PM    comment []trackback []