I loved this chapter! I have always questioned the letter grade system used in our educational system. With my 4th graders, I refused to give letter grades on their report cards after I had done a great deal of research on the effects of letter grades on learning. The author uses a great example in the opening of the chapter by asking about the hardworking student's reaction to be give a C in what appears an arbitrary process in the example. I have followed the work of Rick Stiggins, Anne Davies, Tom Guskey, and Alfie Kohn who have all contributed to my current belief about grading. I do not believe that we do teaching or learning justice by summing up a collection of work by attaching a letter grade to it.
I am a huge proponent of formative assessment. I believe that descriptive feedback that is timely and provides the receiver with what was noticed that worked well (met criteria) followed by suggestions on how to address areas that did not successfully meet the criteria and provides the learner time to use the feedback to modify their work.
I really enjoyed this chapter and am very excited to read the next!
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I completely agree with you about the grading system. It seems very arbitrary to me as well. I like what you say about formative assessment. It is interesting that most teachers I speak to feel this way about grades, but not many do much more than say they don't like the system. At my school we have a number system instead of a grade, but I don't think it's any better. The students all know that a 2 is the equivalent of a C and that a 4 is the equivalent of an A.
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