Assessing or grading student work?

Grades are due. We all begin the tedious task of correcting student work based on a designed rubric and then scramble to our gradebooks to input scores. Some kids have zeroes for not submitting assignments, some have low grades for leaving portions of the task undone and some have everything completed as required, so those students get the “A”. But is this a valid indication as to “what the student knows” about the subject? And what benefit is it to the student who then moves on to the next experience, not quite ever knowing why he/she scored a certain way.

Personally, I don’t like conventional grading. I would rather a student continually submit an assignment until they get it right, asking for help along the way and assessing their work based on the results. Only at that point, do I feel that they have learned what is in front of them and begin to show signs of mastery for the subject. If a student doesn’t pass the work in, then maybe he/she just doesn’t understand what to do! If it is half done, then he/she obviously missed something that needs to be addressed. Why not give these students some extra time and guidance so that they can achieve and learn? Isn’t that what school is for? If we are truly expecting teachers to “personalize” learning, then the entire system of grading needs to be analyzed to accommodate student needs.

“School Myths” by The Atlantic