February 2021 The Pulse

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Are my grades inequitable?

By Steph Schlangen

In a word? Probably. "Grades have long been identified by those in the measurement community as prime examples of unreliable measurement” (Brookhart, 1994; Stiggins, Frisbie, & Griswold, 1989). That’s tough to hear because teachers work really hard to try and grade students fairly. However, if you haven’t taken a pause to really evaluate your grades through an equity lens, this is your call to do so.

Why are grades inequitable?

Let’s start with something that should be simple: what does a grade mean? Most would tell you that the fairest way to grade is on “what the student knows.” Yet, that is not usually how we grade.

Inequities typically come from lumping in behaviors with academics. These behaviors may include participation, punctuality, compliance, listening, etc. Now, no one will argue that these behaviors are unimportant, and may contribute to learning, but I am positing that they don’t belong in a grade if grades represent what the student knows.

I, for one, used points as “carrots and sticks.” I would reward for things like following directions, completing assignments, or doing extra credit. I would also punish (read: reduce a student’s grade) for turning things in late, not listening during presentations, or not allowing a retake for a student who was unprepared. Essentially, my grades, in part, became a behavior management tool - and a poor one at that.

This became clear to me with two examples. The first was late penalties. I came to the point where I could predict which students would be turning in an assignment late. Time and time again it was the same handful of kids. Guess what? My late penalty was not changing behaviors. So, I “secretly” got rid of the penalty. I didn’t announce it to the class because I feared everyone would turn in things whenever they pleased, but that never happened. The same handful of kids struggled, but now, there was no incentive to cheat just to get work done quickly or by the deadline, and I saw better quality work because students eventually saw that they would get full credit. In reflection, by changing my one behavior management strategy in my grading (late penalty), I alleviated two other, more significant behavioral problems (cheating and poor work quality).

The second behavior I was grading was compliance. I did this because it was easy. An example was I would award five points if students had five sources in their research. This was great - it was easy to grade, it was clear cut, but it really missed the point. The point was that I needed to be assessing if students could select a variety of sources that were credible and in-depth. A student who had three great sources could have done that, but with my old method would have earned a ⅗ - 60% (or failing according to our high school grading scale). What I was really grading was not what the student knew about sources, but rather their compliance with my directions.

Do you know who is really good at complying with specific criteria set out by their teachers? Statistically, it’s white girls. "In school, girls are more apt to take more detailed notes in class, transcribe more accurately what teachers say, complete homework on time, and invest in impressing their teachers with their efforts” (Buchmann & DiPrete, 2006; McDaniel, 2007). Girls do this so well that they are traditionally ranked higher on G.P.A. than where their standardized assessments would rank them. Now it’s great that these young ladies are motivated to get good grades in this system, but it’s not really grading on what they know. I also wonder if we want to be teaching (girls especially) that they will be rewarded if they are compliant. On the flip side of that, students of color and boys statistically don’t value this compliance, and we punish them with grading penalties. “The overall grade is unfairly skewed...leaving boys’ achievement underestimated and feeling alienated in an environment where self-regulation and conscientiousness account for a good portion of their grades” (Guskey, 2015). When grades become behavior management, we can close doors and opportunities for students such as the honor roll, extracurriculars, enrollment in specific classes, and admission to universities. I am left with this thought: can’t we find a better way to build academic behavior skills without using grades as rewards and punishment? Grades aren’t payment for work done (good or otherwise), but rather a report on what the student knows at the present moment in time. If you are like me, I am wondering where to start.

Beginning Ideas to Make Grades More Equitable

Experts suggest these ideas to get started:

Eliminate Extra Credit: if grades report what students know, extra credit obscures deficits. Instead, could you reward hard work by allowing students to “retake” or show their knowledge in a creative way?
Eliminate Late Penalties: this is reducing the reporting of what students know because it came late. Could you emphasize punctuality with more natural consequences in your classroom?
Offer Redos: if we want to emphasize the importance of learning something, we should not allow students to throw in the towel if they don’t get it. How can you ensure all students are (re)learning things they need to?

Managing behaviors with grades is, at best, a weak motivator, one that only works with only certain populations of students, and at worst it can deny educational opportunities for students. This can be tough to process and come with many emotions. It is important to assume positive intent with all teachers. With that in mind, the challenge remains: are your grades inequitable?

References:

Brookhart, S. M. (1994). Teachers’ grading: Practice and theory. Applied Measurement in Education, 7(4), 279-301.

Buchman, C., & DiPrete, T. A. (2006). The growing female advantage in college completion: The role of family background and academic achievement. American, Sociological Review, 71(4), 515-541.

Guskey, T. R. (2015). On your mark: Challenging the conventions of grading and reporting. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

McDaniel, A. E. (2007). Gender gaps in educational and occupational expectations across 30 industrialized countries: A study of similarities and differences. Columbus, OH: Master’s thesis, The Ohio State University.

Stiggins, R. J., Frisbie, D. A., & Griswold, P. A. (1989). Inside high school grading practices: Building a research agenda. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 8(2), 5-14.

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