OPINION: Teachers should not standardize grading systems
By Emily Chapman,
BlueDevilHUB.com Editor-
As a student, it can be tedious to acquaint yourself with several teachers’ grading systems, from learning how they choose to weigh certain categories to what percentage makes up an A. However, when a department’s grading system is boiled down to the same formulaic structure, teacher discretion and content emphasis is limited, taking away freedoms like emphasizing certain parts of the curriculum.
In order to have teachers orchestrate their subject in a manner that keeps them passionate and highlights what they think is important for their students, grading systems should not be the same, but rather differ by subject and teacher.
Davis High social studies teacher Fern O’Brien feels that with creating a grading system, teachers must be fair, so as to not corrupt the amount of power controlling the grade book yields.
“It was emphasized [by the district] to be consistent and transparent in your grading system however you chose to develop it,” O’Brien said. “I trust my colleagues to be professional.”
O’Brien emphasizes that the thrill of becoming a teacher would be stripped away with a department wide grading structure.
“Teachers become teachers because they are passionate about what they do, so when you regiment the things they have to do,” O’Brien said. “It’s restricting. We are all consistent in the information we cover, but having said that, teachers have different personalities and will bring out certain events.”
Like O’Brien, English teacher Spencer Elliott feels that as long as teachers layout their gradebook in a functional manner that fits their philosophy, a department wide consensus does not need to be reached.
“People might value different things and we have to understand there will be a different consensus with that,” Elliott said. “I don’t think we have to reach a consensus as long as teachers have a functional philosophy.”
With viewing opinions from two teachers in different departments, it is logical that by making the gradebook their own, teachers are able to teach their curriculum in an manner they are passionate about.
