Students, Standards, and the Unfair Zero -- Blog 5

Despite the negative connotation swirling around the boogeyman of education, the standards, the begin of this article stated a good point that many parents, and even some teachers, fail to recognize. Teaching to standards actually helps students in a number of ways. Among them, seeing improvement inspire students’ confidence, and the standards give students something clear and concise to strive towards. Seeing improvement in their grades and scores show students that they are learning what they are supposed to be learning. This gives students a sense of accomplishment and pride, which in turn, inspires them to do even better in the future. One of the foreseeable issues with this notion is the effect of consistently poor grades on a students’ confidence and mental well-being. If getting good grades has a positive effect on students then surely getting bad grades has the opposite effect. While standards are useful, and I do not disagree with their use, it is important to remember that our students are just kids, and sometimes they do not understand something and will not ask about it despite not understanding. In these cases, the standards will do more harm than good.

Another issue with standard based grading on the percent-alphabet scale (which I am sure has a name but I do not know it) is the punishment of a zero. Reverting back to a previous point, our students are kids; they are people, and sometimes life happens. The article creates a great analogy by comparing the temperature each day to the grades of a student. If it was eighty-five all week, there is no reason to think it would be zero tomorrow. Filling in missing information with a zero harshly skews the data. In the context of our students, it seems unreasonable that a C-average student should get an F for their final grade because they missed something. However, the issue then becomes how do we remedy that zero. Make them retake the test; sure, but what if they cannot retake it. Simply erase the zero from that student's grade book; sure, but what if that or another student abuses the erasure. There is no right answer to that question.


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