Grading

Recently while presenting my qualifying paper at Union University, I found myself reflecting on the important things in education, most specifically the judging of learning. There are many debates among educators, parents and students about how grading should occur throughout the educational process. Currently, my professor at Union grades all assignments based on improvement. Having never had someone grade me like this, I have been fascinated, enthralled, and enraged all at the same time. After my presentation last week, I realized my negative feelings towards grading this way was more due to the unknown about how the grading occurred (I'm one of those that likes to know my grade every step of the way).

Often times people will argue that a perfect paper is the only thing that should receive a perfect grade, while others will disagree that improvement should be what is judged and graded. As an educator improvement and perfectness are both difficult concepts to grade and defend, especially in an inclusion class.

When it comes to something being perfect, what if a situation stands in the way of something being "perfect" at that moment in time? Along the same lines, a student could be dealing with a lot and it is an accomplishment that they are showing up each and every day to school. Improvement most likely won't happen until whatever is causing them to struggle is alleviated.

So I guess my question to you today is what is really the best way to grade students' learning? Is it through judging "perfectness" or improvement? Maybe its a combination of both ideals. Or maybe its not to grade students at all.