By Jacob Ying
Lovett has instituted several new changes this year. One change is that students’ cumulative averages in their classes are hidden on MyLion. Instead, students only see the grades in categories. For example, a student could see that they have a 94% in “homework,” but they could not see that they have an 89% overall in the class.
I thought the end of the second marking period would be a good time to check in with people about the shift.
I decided to get the perspective of one of Lovett’s high-achievers about this policy shift. “It’s very inconvenient because hypothetically, we can calculate to figure out what our grades are, but it takes a lot more time,” said freshman Annabel White. She added, “Also, it stresses people out not to be able to know what their grades are,” referencing the uncertainty that may come from not knowing whether you will pass that class or make honor roll that semester.
Annabel believes the intention behind the policy was good but said that it could be confusing at times. “I look at summative and then formative for English, and I don’t really know the difference except one’s 50% of the grade and one’s 40%,” she explained.
The Assistant Head of US for Teaching and Learning, Ms. Lucas, hopes that by hiding cumulative grades, the dialogue will focus on improvements and address specific areas of need. “We ended last year with really thinking about what is the purpose of grades at Lovett and what is the purpose of a report card at Lovett,” she said. “So what do we want to convey and to what audiences are we trying to convey that message?”
She said they’ve been “digging into thinking about what a grade means and how students interpret what a grade means and how to give students the best feedback so that they can learn and grow.”
Ms. Lucas explained that grades can reflect a variety of things like achievement and classroom behavior. So if a student earns a certain class grade, “Is it because they can practice a certain skill or know a certain content, or did the grade have some kind of factor of tardiness in it? If it does, then it may not be a true measure of what the student knows and can do.”
She explained that Lovett was looking deeply into the purpose of grades. She told me a team of Lovett teachers volunteered to do research into the topic. One of the challenges is balancing the different constituents. Teachers. Students. Parents. “And so we really need to think carefully about how [grading practices] align with who we are as an institution.” The self-selected group surveyed various teachers in different departments and divisions to collect data on the purpose of grades.
Ms. Lucas painted a clear picture of what Lovett was attempting to accomplish: look at the why behind grades and try to redirect “Oh, I got an 89 instead of a 90 to Why am I doing well or not well in this class? Is it more complex than material? In our conversation, Ms. Lucas said that the initiative of finding the purpose of grades at Lovett was an ongoing process.
In Gerald E. Knesek’s article Why Focusing on Grades Is a Barrier to Learning, he writes “What’s apparent in all this focus on grades is that there’s no real emphasis on learning—the true purpose of education.”
Knesek discusses Maria Montessori, of Montessori Schools fame, and her approach to learning. He writes, “Let’s imagine a fully engaged classroom where, instead of learning and education being viewed as a chore, our students follow their innate tendency to explore their environment, i.e., their intrinsic desire to grow and learn. A key ingredient in this vision is autonomy—which is a principle of Montessori education. It puts emphasis on students’ freedom, within limits, to control their own educational process and goal setting.”
Since Lovett’s goal is for students to focus more on learning, it makes sense to de-emphasize grades to an extent.
Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, researchers from the University of Rochester, support Montessori’s pedagogy. They talk about the importance of authentic motivation. “The more students were externally regulated the less they showed interest, value, and effort toward achievement…”. In plain English, focusing on grades, an external factor, undermines students by making them less motivated. The paper posits that students should be internally motivated to learn to facilitate the best learning outcomes.
All of this does not mean that there is no value in assessing student performance. In fact, some studies emphasize the importance of maintaining high standards. According to a Fordham Institute study, “The impact of rigorous grading practices can improve student performance in subsequent math classes up to two years later.” This makes sense when you pause to think about it. When a teacher really pushes you to know and understand content instead of just coasting through, you learn the material at a much greater depth.
But, I’m not here to excoriate grades without talking about why they exist, and why they are a useful tool. Students, parents, teachers, and colleges all look at and use grades. They serve a purpose.
Lovett has made a subtle change to report cards to indicate this purpose that many students, myself included, may have overlooked. It seems to reflect the goal to make grades about more than the numbers. At the top of report cards, it reads, “This grade report is intended as a tool to guide self-reflection, to identify areas of growth, and to celebrate learning successes.”
Chester E. Finn, Jr, writing in a Fordham Institute article, contends that even if grades are imperfect, they are still a pervasive tool. “Grades surround us, and we depend on them in one realm of our lives after another,” he says. He explains that grades are useful for discerning between high-quality and mediocre work.
So what does all this have to do with Lovett not showing the cumulative grades for classes? Well, the new change seems to be a small way of acknowledging that grades are imperfect. When they are the end objective of education, they can hinder performance. Students should learn because they want to, not because they want to get an A. It’s important to look at the nuances in grades to understand what is affecting a grade. However, when used as one of many tools, grades are beneficial. They can tell teachers, parents, and students what the student knows, and how well they know it.
