Grades are seen as a way to give feedback to students, help them understand their strengths and weaknesses, where they stand in the class. It helps rank students, sort them for university admissions, gives parents an idea of how their children perform. Some experts also argue that grades hold students accountable for their work, that the aim of getting a good grade or the risk of getting a bad one incentive them to make efforts.
? But grades are also seen as a learning inhibitor that encourages students to superficially study for the test. How many times have they asked “Will that be in the test?”. How many times have they learned details without really understanding the subject, and thus forgotten everything right after the test?
?Another criticism is that students are now afraid of mistakes, which can prevent them from being innovative and taking risks, and can also demotivate students with bad grades. Some people argue that failure is part of the learning process and that students should thus make as many mistakes as possible to then learn from them.
?Several alternatives to traditional grades have been tested in schools. Mastery-based education allows students to work on a skill until they sufficiently master it. Some schools ask students to create digital portfolios that can include work from throughout the year and show how they evolved, or emphasize on self-assessment. Other schools replace grades with narrative reports in which teachers provide detailed feedback.
?However, accepting to get rid of grades can be hard, especially for parents. Some schools had indeed to get back to traditional grades because parents were attached to this system that they have experienced themselves and sometimes see as more objective. But grades can actually be quite subjective too. And as we said in a previous post, the top 10 skills for 2025 identified by the World Economic Forum include analytical thinking, creativity, initiative, critical thinking. Can they really be assessed objectively with grades?
?Another concern is entering universities. Grades indeed provide a way to quickly compare students and play an important role in admissions. But there are now examples of schools that use narrative evaluations and even consider it as an advantage in university admissions. They indeed argue that it provides universities with years-worth of letters of recommendation and with explanations of how the student grew. Furthermore, major universities have signaled that they would accept non-traditional academic records without penalizing students, and some of them have themselves gotten rid of traditional grades.
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We have to use different types of assessment rather than grades, like research,problem solving, initiatives, judging situations,interview, group work …. to see the student abilities and enhance him to be innovator.
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