The tradition of grading student writing started in the late 19th century. As the number of students started enrolling in schools and colleges increased, the grading system eventually moved to percentages. Mitchell James in the essay, “Grading has made writing better” in the book Bad Ideas About Writing talks about how grading has impacted student writing. A letter grade does not tell students how they can improve. Students are often unmotivated when they get low grades and end up thinking themselves as bad writers. The better idea is that instead of grading student writing, teachers should start giving individual feedback or hold conferences, so students can work on their mistakes and become better writers.
There is a difference between grading and assessment. Grading is just one-sided evaluation done by professors, whereas, there are two different kinds of assessment. First is Summative evaluation, in which students just get a letter grade. Another is a Formative evaluation, in which students and teachers often have one-on-one conference. As James talks about different evaluations, he says, “formative evaluation creates safe spaces for student learning because students are not focused on trying to avoid failure but, instead, are searching for insight and growth.” (James 257). In a graded atmosphere, students just do the work because they don’t want to fail. Whereas, in a non-graded atmosphere, students don’t worry about grade and professor’s expectation. They tend to be more creative and independent because their work is not going to be judged (graded).
In the chapter, “Its Broken-Fix it” in the book, Alternatives to Grading Student Writing, Liesel Hagan talks about Professor Presley who always said to his students that, “his class was just one composition class and that the students would continue to become better writers with every paper they wrote.” (Hagan 8) Professor Presley observed that when students receive letter grades they would see the grade and put the paper aside. So, he decided to not grade student writing and held conferences instead. If college at least eliminates grading from English classes, then students will be a lot more comfortable in writing and sharing their ideas. It will be easier for professors, instead of pointing out students mistakes they can explain students how to do it in the correct way and help them to be better writers. In the article, from the book, Schools without Failure, William Glasser says, “Grades have become almost more important than education itself.” (Glasser 10) Most of the time when a professor gives an assignment, the repeated question they hear from students is whether they need to turn this in for a grade. If something is for a grade, students are more likely to stick to the rubric. Students only do the assignment according to the requirements of the assignment sheet and don’t think outside the box. After the end of the semester, the letter would be just a left off number without any value of knowledge or understanding.
In one of the surveys conducted by Hagan, a college student wrote: “I feel I’m an average writer. I base this on grades I’ve received in English throughout the years.” (Hagan 10) Grades have a negative impact on student writing. A student starts questioning their writing skills. Some students start to hate writing and throughout their life thinks themselves as a bad writer. The author talks about the research which has shown that “in a nongraded atmosphere, students are motivated without grades, and at the same time, their self-esteem is preserved.” (Hagan 6) For some students, their grades are their pride. If they get low grades, they compare themselves with others; thinking they are not smart enough. If the grading system is eliminated, students will stop comparing and competing and start acquiring knowledge from it.
Hagan and other authors conducted a study about what students think about the grades they receive. One student said, “I don’t even understand what the grade means on my paper. The top says something like a B and then all the comments say positive things and then there are all these errors marked.” (Hagan 7) Professors work hard in evaluating the paper and give a letter grade. But if the student themselves don’t understand what they did wrong then what’s the point of giving them letter grades, give them some good feedback which can make a difference in their writing. If a mistake is learned through praise(comments) instead of punishment(grades), a student is more likely to not do it again.
In English, a student’s intelligence should not be measured by grades, instead, it should be measured by how they improved during the semester. It’s hard to eliminate grading from the whole education system at once. Professors, faculties, and administrators all together should take the first step towards eliminating grading system. As Hagan talks about Professor Presley in her book, if some professors, especially in English classes stop giving letter grades to student paper and start giving feedback; then eventually other professors and schools will start following this practice. It’s not only the professor’s duty to comment on student papers, but even students should also start seeing their professors and ask for feedback and help. The only way to stop grading system is to take an initiative.
Works Cited
Glasser, William. Schools without Failure. New York: Harper, 1968
Hagan, Liesel. “It’s Broken-Fix It!” Alternatives to Grading Student Writing, by Stephen Ed. Tchudi, National Council of Teachers of English, 1997, pp. 20–30.
James, Mitchell. “Grading Has Always Made Writing Better.” Bad Ideas About Writing, pp. 255–258.