A new pilot project at a high school in Ontario will see Grade 9 students negotiating their end-of-semester grades with their teacher, an idea some experts say will help keep the focus on learning.
The students, enrolled in four courses at Mayfield Secondary School in Caledon, Ont., will receive feedback from their teacher throughout the semester, but not grades. At the end of the term, theysa国际传媒檒l sit down with the teacher and evaluate their course work and will, ideally, come to an agreement on an appropriate final grade.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檒l be a negotiation process where they have a conversation about the learning, and the student can articulate exactly what theysa国际传媒檝e learned and how theysa国际传媒檝e grown as a learner,sa国际传媒� said school principal James Kardash. sa国际传媒淎nd when we can get to that, wesa国际传媒檙e starting to make inroads on what education should really be about.sa国际传媒�
Experts have had mixed reactions to the idea.
Colleen Willard-Holt, dean of the faculty of education at Wilfrid Laurier University, thinks grades carry a lot of weight, and sometimes theysa国际传媒檙e overrated.
sa国际传媒淚t can work quite well for students to engage in a dialogue with their teacher and talk about what they have learned and what kinds of things they can show that demonstrate their learning,sa国际传媒� she said in an interview.
sa国际传媒淭hat dialogue then, is another chance for them to engage in the learning process itself, because theysa国际传媒檙e learning to advocate for themselves, theysa国际传媒檙e learning to articulate the learning that has taken place within themselves.sa国际传媒�
Carol Rolheiser, director at the Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation at the University of Toronto, says that when students receive consistent feedback from teachers and peers throughout the school year, they tend to perform better.
sa国际传媒淪aying, sa国际传媒楤ased on that feedback, what do I need to do differently in the future? What are the areas of strength? What are the areas I need to improve?sa国际传媒�, thatsa国际传媒檚 the cycle we want to get at,sa国际传媒� Rolheiser said.
But, she said, ultimately she feels that assigning a grade should be the teachersa国际传媒檚 responsibility.
Some of the teachers have been skeptical too, Kardash noted, adding that theysa国际传媒檝e slowly been coming around to the idea.
sa国际传媒淚 think a few of them thought that maybe I hit my head playing football a few too many times,sa国际传媒� said Kardash, a former Toronto Argonauts player. But by the start of this school year, after a few professional development sessions, he estimated that about a fifth of the schoolsa国际传媒檚 teachers are in favour of the change.
Bringing parents onboard, however, was a different story.
sa国际传媒淚 was told that there were Facebook groups out there that were critical of me, and saying that they werensa国际传媒檛 going to let their kids go to Mayfield and whatnot, and thatsa国际传媒檚 normal. Yousa国际传媒檝e got to expect that to happen when theresa国际传媒檚 no information,sa国际传媒� he said.
Kardash said that once he informed parents about the programsa国际传媒檚 merits, they started wondering why their kids wouldnsa国际传媒檛 be able to continue with the program throughout their entire high school careers.
sa国际传媒淚 had some parents in the school today because we had a Grade 9 bring-your-parents-to-school day, and that was one of the questions: If I have a son and he thinks he deserves a 95, and the teacher says he only deserves a 72?sa国际传媒� Kardash said.
If that happens, the teacher will have the final say, but there will be an appeal process if the student really thinks the teacher was wrong, he said.
Willard-Holt said she doesnsa国际传媒檛 think many of those discrepancies will happen.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e actually had some experience in having students talk about their grades with me, and for the most part, I find that theysa国际传媒檙e pretty tough on themselves,sa国际传媒� she said.
Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press
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