“Even with school and district policies in place, there can be as many different grading systems in a school as there are teachers.” (Stiggins et al., 2004, p. 305).
This quote makes me wonder how many teachers feel lost when it comes to grading. I think this feeling of being lost really showcases the struggle a teacher faces when it comes to assigning one grade to a whole child. As a teacher you know your students as more than just a number or grade.
“First, it is helpful to remember that there is a difference between the purpose we have for giving the grades, and the subsequent uses of the grades given. At the outset, our purpose is to communicate, but after we give grades, others use them for a variety of their own purposes.” (Stiggins et al., 2004, p. 305).
The “subsequent uses” listed below (Stiggins et al., 2004):
School Administrators, Guidance Counselors, College Admissions Offices, Prospective Employers Use Grades For:
- Academic and career pathways
- Student placement
- Special program selection
- Team eligibility
- School/College Admissions
- Evaluating School programs
- Instructional planning and improvement
Parents Use Grades For:
- How child is performing compared to classmates
- Measure Improvement
- Motivational Tool (punishment for bad grades, rewards for good grades)
Students Use Grades For:
- If they are capable of achieving in subjects
- If putting forth effort is worth it
- What their future education/careers will look like
The “subsequent uses” for students really stick with me. I’ll use myself as an example, I was never “the best” at math. I got by with a lot of hard work, and extra help. I honestly can say that once I understood my mistakes, I did enjoy math assignments. I remember the satisfaction of knowing there was one right answer to (some of) the math problems. However, because I knew how hard I had to work to get that A that some of my classmates could get without extra help, late night studying, etc. I felt discouraged. Well, what if the grades were never there? What if we all got A’s as long as we tried, no matter the number of mistakes we made along the way? This brings me back to the very first article we read. Arty was passionate about grading students based on the process of making art, and not by just looking at the product (Jones, 1995). Can other subjects be assessed in such a way? Is grading art so difficult because it is not just about the product, or sum of 2 numbers (not that grading other subjects is easy-don’t get me wrong)?
This brings me to the Kohn (2004b) article. Kohn (2004b) states, “Thus it shouldn’t be surprising that when students are told they’ll need to know something for a test—or, more generally, that something they’re about to do will count for a grade—they are likely to come to view that task (or book or idea) as a chore.” (p. 75).
At the K-6 art level I can not remember a time where I warned students to pay attention because they were going to be tested, at least not while being serious. (: I have said things like, “pay close attention to this step because this will help you do a, b, c, etc.” In fact, I talk so little about report cards, percentages, etc. in art to my elementary students that sometimes my students ask if art is graded. However, I do feel a lot of elementary students do not realize specials (art, gym, music, library) as a whole are graded. I then ask myself do I mind this? Do I want my students to do their best because they want to please their parents with good grades, or do I want my students to do their best because they are creating individual creations?
With my older grades I started implementing choice several years ago. I saw the positive results of choice based learning, but at times I would feel discouraged. I would research and spend time collecting a variety of techniques students could learn. I would spend time introducing those techniques to the class. When it would come time for students to show me their project plan so I knew what they wanted to accomplish over the next several art classes, I noticed students were going down the easiest path. This is because students are not lazy, rather they are tired, and as Kohns (2004b) states, rationale.
“Wise educators realize that it doesn’t matter how motivated students are; what matters is how students are motivated. It is the type of motivation that counts, not the amount” (Kohns, 2004b, p. 79-80). When teaching art we have the unique opportunity to really tap into what our students are interested in, what motivates them. I see the wonderful results of this in the art room when students create works that they needed to create got themselves, not works they created because they wanted the good grade.
Grading was a big conversation when school buildings closed, so the podcast, Assessment and Grading in Distance Learning caught my eye. In this podcast Dr. Guskey discusses the different environments students are in when we had to go to Distance Learning. Some students who had one on one attention from a parent(s), some students who had an older sibling to supervise them because both parents are at work, or some students who little to no means of learning from home due to lack of accessibility. As we all experienced last spring. I remember the statement going around, “We’re grading the parents, not our students,” when discussing grades and distance learning. I feel there is definitely some truth to this statement, however I believe there are layers upon layers (too many for this blog post) of what happened last spring and what is still happening that plays into why grading last spring was so difficult.
My concluding thoughts are that I am still torn on grading. I think this is partly why I am interested in giving quality feedback, bringing me back to my independent project. Instead of a letter grade I do feel that quality feedback is a better focus for not only the students, but also the teachers.
An article I found. I chose this article because I feel it ties to my independent project on quality feedback, and it reminds me of the book making class I took with Leslie. Sands (n.d) discusses how he has his students complete “Snapshot Blog Posts.” The blog posts, and their evidence of what they learned are used to create the grade he gives to his students, vs. the art making/art project itself. I find this way of grading to be interesting. In Leslie’s book making class we had blog posts due dates, but what we created as far as books was up to us. I found myself making different book structures that I wasn’t sure I was even capable of making, because I knew that as long as I could explain what I learned (which was a lot) in my blog post and provided evidence of this learning through explanation and pictures, I wouldn’t “fail” because my books were not perfect.
I feel this way of grading could work well for the higher grades, but I’m still torn on my younger group of students. However, as I stated, my younger students don’t seem to know that art is graded. Those of you that teach a younger group, or even older group, do you experience this?
Assessment and Grading in Distance Learning (10 Minute Teacher Podcast; Running time: 9 minutes) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/assessment-and-grading-in-distance-learning/id1201263130?i=1000477368194
Jones Jr., L. H. (1995). Recipe for assessment: How Arty cooked his goose while grading art. Art Education, 48(2), 12–17.
Kohn, A. (2004b). From Grading to Degrading. In What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? And More Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies (pp. 75–92). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Sands, I. (n.d). I don’t like grading, and, uh, I don’t think I’m gonna grade anymore. The Art of Education University.https://theartofeducation.edu/2014/06/11/i-dont-like-grading-and-uh-i-dont-think-im-gonna-grade-anymore/
Stiggins, R. J.; Arter, J. A.; Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2004). Why do we grade. In Classroom Assessment for Student Learning (pp. 304–306). Portland, OR: Assessment Training Institute Inc.
Assessment in Art Education 
You must be logged in to post a comment.