Reply to Changes to grading for all MCPS high school students

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If grades weren’t important for learning, we wouldn’t have them. But they absolutely are necessary, at least for students whose minds are not fully developed, and would not be intrinsically motivated to learn algebraic equations. Also, teachers cannot adequately measure a students learning without grades. If you would like to keep living in La La Land, go ahead…
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I love this response! It really demonstrates super well how the most vehement opinions are often based on false assumptions and cognitive biases:

1. Research consistently shows that grades are not necessary for learning and may in fact undermine it. See Self-Determination Theory (external rewards (ike grades can actually crowd out intrinsic motivation); and mastery vs performance orientation (Dweck) - emphasis on performance comes at expense of mastery.

For younger and less motivated learners, research consistently shows that clear goals, support, and feedback work better than letter grades.

2. *Feedback* is necessary; grades are not. More than thirty years of research demonstrate that adding a grade to feedback actually reduces the effect of the feedback.

tl;dr The opposite of what you said is true

lol
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Given the limitations of the system, this is part of why my rising senior and I oppose this policy change. If all else is equal, higher grades likely support learning better than lower grades—not because the grade itself teaches anything, but because lower grades are demotivating and discourage continued engagement, especially if they are not paired with useful feedback or pathways to success.

Even slightly higher or lower grades can have meaningful ripple effects on a student’s life trajectory, self-concept, and on future opportunities, independent of actual learning. Higher grades reduce arbitrary, class-based gatekeeping effects; increase motivation, engagement, and perceived competence; and reduce stress and negative mental health impacts.

Y'all imagine there is something magical about the way it was done when you were kids, but those systems essentially reproduce social stratification based on income and other class markers rather than enhancing *learning.*

As ever, the students most harmed by the changes will be first-gen, low-income, or other under-served students navigating systems that weren’t designed with their strengths or needs in mind.

Y'all will shout until you're blue in the face that grades are important to learning, but there's little to no truth in that claim. You're just very attached to your carrots and sticks and people sorters. But let's not pretend that learning has anything to do with it. [/quote]

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