Chapter 8: Why Do We Grade? And What About Effort, Attendance, and Behavior?

The purpose of grading it to communicate to students, parents, and teachers the student’s level of mastery, and use this information to provide feedback and make informed decisions about what to do next. Grading is already so easily muddled by subjectivity that adding effort, attendance and behavior as factors in grades is too confusing and unnecessary. While participation is important in learning, a student’s grade shouldn’t hinge on how many times they speak up in class: if a student and produce good work and prove that they understand what is going on, they shouldn’t be punished for not raising their hand more. Nor should students who constantly participate in class discussion be given a higher grade when they never do their homework and don’t demonstrate full mastery. In order to grade effort, one would need to be able to define and put it into standards and criteria. While it may seem unfair that some students don’t need to put in a lot of effort to receive a good grade, it’s also unfair for students who tried hard and learned little to receive a good grade for just trying. Attendance is an important aspect of learning: if you don’t show up, you don’t receive an opportunity to learn. But a few missed classes shouldn’t lower a student’s grade if they can still prove mastery of the subject: you never know what is going on at home or outside of school. I firmly believe that effort, attendance, and behavior are all important in life and in school, but they can be communicated in ways other than grades, and that’s how it should be done.