Response to: Marks, grades and their effects in schooling

 I must be some kind of anomaly because I tend to be much more intrinsically motivated in school than extrinsically motivated. If I'm not interested in the subject material, I'm simply not going to learn it. No amount of threatening or rewarding with respect to grades (or otherwise) can typically get me to change my attitude. My student bird thoughts make it hard to relate to students who would be motivated by grades, nervous about tests, or competitive. My teacher bird, though, can definitely see evidence in the effects of grades on students. Indeed, they are as described in the reading! 

If we really need to have some sort of grading system, it needs to be reflective of how well a student has learned the course material, and how well they can demonstrate the required competencies. As we're learning in our Assessment (441) class, rarely do number-based grades (e.g., percentages) actually reflect this in an accurate way. Also, these types of grades come with the feeling of being final, that is, there is no way for the student to improve and no path forward. If they get high grades, they are "smart" and no longer need to continue trying. If they get low grades, they are "stupid" and might as well give up. Either way, students are not motivated to learn. 

The only positive (or perhaps just necessary at the moment, without a better system) aspects I can see of grading are:

• they might give the student's next teacher an idea of where they're coming from. In the new proficinency scale of the BC Curriculum, it might be useful to know if a student is coming from the previous grade with an extending level of understanding or an emerging level of understanding so you know how to best support them
• for universities and other competitive institutions, number-based grades are a cheap and simple way to rank applicants for entry if you really aren't interested in getting to know the students holistically
• for administrators to see, as a whole, how students are doing, how well the class/school/district is functioning, and if any interventions are needed

In both cases, the student needn't even be aware of their grade. They just need the qualitative feedback on what they know, what areas they could work on, and how to get to the next level. 

I'm all for ditching grading altogether; this reading is preaching to the choir!