Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn (2004) What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? - Three:10

Three: Grading and Evaluating
10. The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation

"To say that grades are not merely rising but inflated—and that they are consequently 'less accurate' now, as the A... http://tl.gd/9pups7less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"To say that grades are not merely rising but inflated—and that they are consequently 'less accurate' now, as the American Academy's report puts it—is to postulate the existence of an objectively correct evaluation of what a student (or an essay) deserves, the true grade that ought to be uncovered and honestly reported. It would be an understatement to say that this reflects a simplistic and outdated view of knowledge and of learning." Kohn

Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn (2004) What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? - Three:9

Three: Grading and Evaluating

9. From Degrading to De-Grading

"You can tell a lot about a teacher's values and personality just by asking how he or she feels about giving grades." Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"A B in English says nothing about what a student can do, what she understands, where she needs help. Moreover, the... http://tl.gd/9pcje1less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"Grades waste a lot of time that could be spent on learning, Add up all the hours that teachers spend fussing with ... http://tl.gd/9pcmivless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"Grades waste a lot of time that could be spent on learning, Add up all the hours that teachers spend fussing with their grade books. Then factor in the (mostly unpleasant) conversations they have with students and their parents about grades. It's tempting to just roll our eyes when confronted with whining or wheedling but the real problem rests with the practice of grading itself." Kohn

Teachers always seem to get defensive whenever I ask them about whether their grading time is wasted time. Two years ago I taught a Media Arts class at a fairly conservative and traditional high school. First day of class I asked the students to give themselves a grade for the course and write me a two paragraph essay describing what they did to deserve this grade. This, I told them would remain as their course grade as long as they lived up to what they said they would do in their essays. This really pissed off some of the teachers at this school. They said it went against the grading policy. They said it devalued grades they gave in their courses. They said I was being negligent in doing this. Funny thing was, each of those kids lived up to the high expectations they set for themselves, I did not waste my time on trivial matters of subjective grading, and I focused all my energy on learning. It was great. Besides, this was an elective class studying film, television, video games, and other media, subjects students were already interested in. I wasn't about to sully their interest in these topics by introducing an arbitrary rewards and punishment system where it really did not belong in the first place.


All this makes me wonder if people seeing teachers protests like this "grade-in" should come away with the impression the teachers want them to. The stated purpose of these "grade-ins" is to bring awareness of how much work teachers do. It is all in response to the recent demonetization of the profession. But, maybe the appropriate impression people should come away with is, "Boy, these teachers sure have to waste a lot of time and effort on something that is ultimately meaningless," or "If these teachers devoted as much time to learning as they do on grades maybe our kids would learn more at school. After-all, when was the last time your grades in school got you anywhere? When was the last time they opened any real doors for you?

"Wise educators realize that it doesn't matter how motivated students are; what matters is how they are motivated." Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"we need to engage them in a discussion about whether this is a legitimate goal, and whether school exists for the ... http://tl.gd/9pd17oless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn (2004) What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? - Two:8

Two: Standards and Testing
8. Two Cheers for an End to the SAT

"Such tests privilege the privileged and reflect a skill at taking tests. Few people—other than those who profit ha... http://tl.gd/9osipaless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"Teachers feel compelled to cover vast amounts of content, often superficially, rather than letting students discover ideas." Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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Perhaps this, even more than the loss of certain cherished programs, is the real loss that standardized testing incurs. The loss of opportunities to engage in discovery learning due to the pressure to cover material, which is just what happens when students are not allowed time for discovery-certain material ends up getting covered, hidden from view, hidden from discovery. In an earlier chapter of this book Kohn talks about the standardized tests as being akin to educational ethnic cleansing, in this fashion it is the cleansing of content that is not in the standards. Right Howard Zinn?

"There is good evidence that grades don't predict later-life success, in occupational or intellectual terms." Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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When was the last time you as an adult were asked what kind of grades you got in school? I am not sure I have ever been asked that question.

Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn The Schools Our Children Deserve (1999) - Ch 2

Getting Motivation Wrong: The Costs of Overemphasizing Achievement

"some teachers are 'more interested in what they're teaching than in what students are learning,' more focused on s... http://tl.gd/7h5d9kless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I have to admit that when I entered this profession, and for my first four years as a teacher, this was definitely true of me. I really did care more about my subject than about what my students were learning. My subject was the reason I became a teacher in the first place. I was excited to be able to spend every day immersed in the subject of art. Nothing could have been more rewarding for me at the time. It wasn't until I started to "See" my students that this changed. In many ways I would have preferred to have been left back in the dark regarding this. It was personally rewarding to be that kind of teacher. It meant that no matter how my students did I was doing a good job so long as I was in the element. Problem was, it did not make me a very effective teacher. I was teaching content, not students.

"for people to think about how well they're doing is not at all the same as thinking about what they are doing." Alfie Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Research and experience teach us that when 'performance-oriented instructional strategies' are used, such as emph... http://tl.gd/7h5j2cless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Those led to think about the level of their achievement probably won't reach beyond their comfort zone to see what... http://tl.gd/7h5mmrless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"students who are concerned about doing well, especially in comparison to their classmates, are relatively unlikely... http://tl.gd/7h5safless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"When students are constantly made to think about how well they are doing, they are apt to explain the outcome in t... http://tl.gd/7h5vehless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@alfiekohn what is the difference between making mistakes and failure?less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"A grade of B in English tells you nothing about what your child can do, what she understands, where she needs help." Alfie Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"what grades offer is spurious precision—a subjective rating masquerading A's an objective evaluation." Alfie Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Grading...relieves educators from having to rethink what and how they are teaching. It's always the kid who is sai... http://tl.gd/7h6dpvless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Last year I taught a class where I eliminated grades. I told the students that unless they failed to show up or do any of the work they would all receive A's in my class they would all be able to give themselves their own grade. I had a professor in college do this once and at that time the practice made no sense to me, nor did she go to any great length to explain the practice to us. When I did this I explained that I did not want thinking about how well they were doing get in the way of thinking about what they were doing. It was a class in digital media arts and students enrolling already all enjoyed movies, videos, games, and other forms of digital media. The last thing I wanted to do was let the effects of grades interfere with the intrinsic motivation they already brought to the class. I was met with resistance from other staff members. What followed was a textbook example of exactly the kind of response that Kohn describes. "If you let the kids all give themselves A's then their grades mean nothing!" "If you do this in your class it makes me look bad if I don't do it in mine." "Grades are important for college entrance, how will our kids get into college if they don't have any meaningful grades." To which I replied, "So, we need grades to sort our kids?" Ultimately, no one won this fight. Luckily I had the support of the administration at this school and made them fully aware of my intentions before the course ever started.

Alfie Kohn Interview on FutureofEducation.com http://dlvr.it/BXj86less than a minute ago via dlvr.itanderscj
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