Traditional Grading in Elementary Classrooms

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that grades signify an end, a final evaluation of a finished piece; however, by not grading, teachers signal that a piece can still be revised, which recognizes that writing is a recursive process that requires various stages of revision. The author evaluates two alternatives to traditional grading: Minimal grading using codes to communicate with students, such as exclamation points to show approval, a question mark to point to an unclear passage or a check to indicate an error, and achievement grading or contract grading, which allows students to receive credit for the work accomplished---the more work students do, the higher their grade. The paper recommends that students as young as first grade should be encouraged to revise their writing in response to teacher feedback, which should focus specifically on student's writing strengths and weaknesses that is the type of feedback they can't get from conventional letter grades.

From the Paper:

"In too many classrooms, "grades are wages students earn in exchange for their labor." Teachers assign papers as work, students create papers as products and grades are exchanged as currency. Students who enter school with the appropriate skills are rewarded; they know how to write a paper and just have to figure out what the teacher wants to read. Students who lack those skills begin the writing process already at a disadvantage; unless they are explicitly taught how to write, they will continue to receive low grades. It is the students lacking these basic skills -- who view writing as threatening, are unmotivated, or are learning the conventions of English, who we need to advocate for when thinking about the effects of traditional grading."

More papers on Traditional Grading in Elementary Classrooms:

• Essay # 63352 : "Differentiation in Elementary Classrooms"
• Research Proposal # 47239 : "Computers in Elementary Education"
• Essay # 72168 : "Motivation in Elementary School Classrooms"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: