Civic education MARKS OR NO MARKS AT SCHOOL? 7 GROUP WORK Read this article and discuss the statements below. The questions are there to guide the discussion. Marks and Grades Still Matter in School For many teachers, marking assignments is one of the least enjoyable parts of the job. It can feel pointless when students barely glance at the comments before throwing their work away. Still, teachers continue doing it, hoping to make learning more meaningful. Some believe the answer is to eliminate grades entirely. A recent CBC story featured a high school English teacher using an ungrading approach. Instead of giving marks, the teacher provides only written feedback. At the end of the term, students meet with the teacher and suggest the grade they think they deserve. While this may work in a few classrooms with motivated students, it s unrealistic to assume it can succeed across all subjects and grade levels. Subjects like maths, for instance, require accuracy and efficiency. In fields like engineering or medicine, mistakes can be deadly. One tragic example: the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota, which killed 13 people. Investigators found that the engineers had made a calculation error, designing a critical part of the bridge too thin. Of course, high school students aren t designing bridges. But school is where they should learn that accuracy matters and that they must fix their mistakes. Ungrading is also not a new idea. Writer Alfie Kohn has advocated abolishing grades for decades, but he has never taught in a real classroom or designed assessments. His ideas may sound appealing, but they ignore the real challenges teachers face. In truth, grades provide valuable feedback and help recognise student effort and achievement. Rather than throwing out grades entirely, we should help teachers mark more efficiently. Ungrading might be trendy, but it s not the solution. In fact, the ungrading movement deserves a grade of its own: an F. Adapted from: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/ marks-and-grades-still-matter-school 1. Marks are not the best way to measure what a student has learned. Do you agree or disagree? Why? 2. Written feedback is more helpful than a number mark. Which type of feedback helps you improve more? 3. Ungrading only works with motivated students. Can ungrading work for everyone, or only in some cases? 4. In real life, mistakes can have serious consequences, so students must learn accuracy in school. Should schools focus more on being right or on the process of learning? 5. The current grading system is outdated and needs to be changed. What changes would you make to the way schools assess students? 6. Students should decide their own final marks. Is this fair or dangerous? Could it work in your school? 7. Subjects like maths and science need clear right or wrong answers. Should creative subjects be marked the same way as technical ones? 8. Some students stop trying because they re afraid of bad marks. Do grades motivate or discourage students? 9. Not all effort is visible in a final mark. How can teachers recognise hard work without changing the marking system? 10. Ungrading is just another passing trend in education. Do you think ungrading will become more popular or fade away? 140 BABIES AND CHILDREN