Friends:
A new study from the Fordham Institute entitled "Great Expectations:
the Impact of Rigorous Grading Practices on Student Achievement"
discusses the relationship between student grades and student success.
Focusing on students taking Algebra 1, the study found that all students
learn more when teachers have high standards for grades and this effect
lasted long after the class had ended.? Below is are excerpts from
the summary of the study that appeared on the Fordham blog and excerpts
from the blog.
". . . According to the study, students learned more from
teachers with higher grading standards, and those gains persisted up to
two years later.
?. . . high grading standards were not distributed randomly, but
are a product of the same pernicious inequities that dictate how critical
resources like talent, funding, and access to excellent instruction are
provided. Suburban schools and schools serving more affluent students
were far more likely to have high grading standards.
?. . . . In , we found that out of students who earned
B¡¯s?widely considered to be a good grade?only 35 percent were at grade
level on state reading and math tests, and just half met the benchmark
for college readiness on the ACT or SAT.. These discrepancies stemmed not
just from low grading standards on challenging work, but from a lack of
opportunities to even attempt grade-appropriate assignments in the first
place. Earning a ¡°legitimate¡± A or a B based on fifth-grade work says
little about a student¡¯s readiness for high school, college, or beyond if
they¡¯re in eighth grade?yet most of the students we studied spent most of
their time
. This helps explain the
unconscionable dynamic where national high school graduation rate has
climbed past 80 percent, but 40 percent of those who enroll in college
are still shunted into remedial classes?racking up a combined $1.5
billion in extra debt to learn skills their report card grades told them
they¡¯d already mastered."
