Alternative Methods of Assigning Grades: Entry Blog (#1)

Greetings! I am Alexander Wood, a student at West Chester University. In this blog, I will be spending this semester making a blog exploring alternative methods of assigning grades. I hope to ask and answer several questions on the topic and learn more about education.

I am very interested in exploring alternate methods of assigning grades. The traditional method of grading applies letter grades to specific percentages of a score given to a test or assignment. This is the method of grading I am familiar with. Though I have experienced variations on it (my early grades had an A begin at 92 instead of 90), I have never left this system while inside education. I chose this issue because of this fact. I have never had a chance to explore alternate methods of assigning grades before this point. I have heard rumors about alternatives, but I know next to nothing about them. Before I implement a traditional grading system in my class, I feel I need to do due diligence and check to see if these other systems are superior.

            This topic is essential because any serious student will warp their behavior in education around the grades they are given. If certain behaviors are rewarded with good grades, those behaviors will be encouraged. However, if the nature of the grading system encourages behaviors that are not actually useful for ‘life beyond the classroom’, then the grading system must be improved or replaced. Additionally, even if it encourages useful behavior, if it encourages an ‘authoritarian’ mentality of obedience or reduces creativity beyond the bounds of measured success, these negative impacts cannot be ignored. As a person interested in democracy in education, this in particular is an important question for me! For these reasons, a deep analysis of grading systems is beneficial for education overall.

            I do not know that much about this topic. I am aware of the existence of alternative grading systems in the vaguest sense, but I lack concrete details. As a result, my initial questions about the topic are simple. I intend to develop more complex questions as I learn more about the topic. I have developed the following five questions. First, what are the most popular alternatives to the traditional grading scheme? Second, what are people’s general lived experiences with alternative grading schemes? Third, what are the specific experiences of people who transitioned between working under alternative grading systems and traditional grading systems? Fourth, do alternative grading systems produce better ‘targeted’ outcomes than traditional grading systems (e.g. under which system do math students become better at math)? Fifth, do alternative grading systems produce better ‘side effects’ than traditional grading systems (e.g. are students more free minded, are they happier, etc)? I intend to answer these questions and more as this blog goes forwards.