TO GRADE OR NOT TO GRADE, THAT IS THE QUESTION...SO, WHAT'S THE ANSWER?

How did you feel the first time you had a grade attached to you? You know...a letter C, maybe with a + or a -. Or maybe a number, like 82 or 69?

Suppose you had a good grade way back when; did you deserve it? Or, how about a bad grade in 3rd grade? Was your performance really that bad? Well, the teacher must have thought so. How did it affect your view of yourself? Were you the better or the worse because of it?

No Child Left Behind, that wonderful mantra, is still leaving far too many behind...attaching their accumulated standardized test scores to their teachers and their schools, assigning extra homework to the errant teachers and closing those bad, bad schools. But how do these test scores help the individual student from being left behind? They advance or retreat one child at a time.

So, what's really wrong with a grade or a standardized test score? The pundits and experts call them objective scores, as they are thought to be free from subjectivity and less prone to error. OK. So someone who really believes this, please tell me what a D- is, or what's a 72? Is there a teacher or an objective test out there with the wisdom of Solomon who can defend the complete objectivity of the grade or the test score? Anyone? Anyone? I thought not.

So, how do we assure that students possess the needed skills and competencies to succeed? How do we know if they can do quality work? How about we look at their work? Why not put each student, with help from their teachers, parents and mentors, in charge of designing, creating and collecting their best, summative projects, papers, videos, presentations, collaborations, apprenticeships (maybe), designs, solutions, poems, pictures, dreams, improved work,....well you get it: a Personal Portfolio of the Emerging Learner. Authentic assessment, if you will.

Why, with help, most students could create an assessment rubric too, so they can learn to judge the quality of their own work. Of course, they want reviews and input and suggestions from their teachers, fellow students, parents, mentors, Skype-buddies...you name it. In time they may need less help and have far more confidence in their skills.

Wouldn't that be far more meaningful than a number or a grade? Sure, students and teachers could keep a checklist of skills possessed, works in progress or improvements still needed. But, most of us in this profession can look at a student's chosen, best work and immediately tell what they know and what they don't know. Even better, with a little help, so can they.

Think of the time and energy saved from all the irrelevant, meaningless measuring we now do. And no one really, truly knows what it means for each learner. Or, finding something effective to remediate it.

It's time to make some fundamental changes in our educational system. How about replacing grading and testing with Personal Portfolios of Excellence and Progress? When they leave their classes next spring, they can only take their fond memories of their good teachers along with them. How about giving them the gift that keeps on giving: Learning how to learn.

Take a look at the changes we tried at our Saturn School of Tomorrow some years ago. We need more ideas like this one. Real reform. Not a race to the top of something that won't be there next year.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS ISSUE? POST YOUR COMMENTS BELOW.....THANKS!

That More May Learn More! Who's the Learner?

The EdWeek blog recently posted an interesting statement by NYU Professor Pedro Noguera in response to where the NCLB accountability must lie:

"(Teachers') unions need to make it very clear that the interests of the teachers are aligned with the interests of the children. Whatever's good for the teachers better also be good for the children."

No matter our professional affiliations, as teachers, our calling makes it clear whom we must first serve: the students.

Far too many students are being left behind. Why? There are so many reasons, it's hard to know where to start. But if we want to focus our lessening resources on where most of the variance in student achievement lies, we must acknowledge what Bill Maher almost got right on his recent TV show when he called out parents for their failure to be part of the solution. He might have said "parents and students!" We know Maher's not the only one who understands this, but his bully pulpit gives him a louder voice.

It's too bad that those words aren't coming from the mouths of our political leaders. Parents, yes! Teachers, yes! But students first. Then the school leaders, the districts, the states, the feds in order of accountability.

Sound like an impossible list? It is! Clearly, there's too much curriculum to be taught today. We are trying to create a cookie-cut student from a growing diversity of students. But, no matter how you cut it, these so-called critically important standardized tests label the schools instead of helping the students.

Yes, for us educators, it's first and foremost the students we serve. But it's a reciprocal issue. Students, with support from their parents, have got to own their own learning. They need to dream more about their futures, build a plan to develop the skills to get there, list and demand the resources they need to learn....in short, design and follow their own unique learning plan, one which addresses their own interests and talents, and also addresses their own needs.

Parents absolutely must be a part of this, or it will continue to fail. Many parents spend more time watching their kids play sports than checking their homework.

Next comes the teacher, and the rest of us in the Village of Learning, who are also here to help all learners succeed. A Personal Learning Plans for each student would cost little or nothing. Yet it would place the major responsibility for learning in the hands of the learner. This is where it must be. Then, it's up to parents, teachers, administrators to encourage, assist, find resources, help assess progress and remain committed to helping each child reach his or her goals.

Professor Noguera from NYU was right in his recent statement. The focus for teachers must be the learner. Maher was right: Parents must help.

But it all starts with the learner committed to learning, and a personal plan to make it happen.