ACS student Sophia Grifferty spoke to Matthew Foss, her teacher, about what he sees as an antiquated ‘calculated average grading system’, and the need for a radical revamp.
Matthew Foss is an experienced international teacher of 19 years, and has spent time teaching all levels of high school English in the United States, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and now the UAE for his second year.
Foss is an ardent champion for working and interacting with teenagers as well as reading and discussing literature. He loves daily interactions with students and loves when something clicks with a student. Foss’s passion for teaching and learning has motivated him to confront an ever-present issue in the world of education: the grading system.
A teacher by profession and a lifelong learner, Foss hopes to improve the averaged and calculated grading system in schools. Throughout his career, he has worked in a wide variety of ‘systems’ with a wide range of curricula and a variety of reporting systems and grading procedures.
In Foss’s current school and in schools around the world, teachers are forced to use a mathematic formula of averaging grades for an overall calculated grade by the end of the semester. Advocates of averaging grades might argue that it’s a simple and easily understood way to show, both publicly and privately, student achievement, but Foss argues, “I am basically opposed to having to average grades” and that the “one size fits all model does not accurately display a student’s growth and ability”.
Foss explained: “There is way too much research about why this system is antiquated and flawed, but the crux of my issue comes with the fact that if a student improves over the course of the semester (let’s say moves from earning C’s to B’s to A’s), the student will get the average of that grade (so…a B here). If a student moves all the way up to the A by the end of the semester, why not earn the A?”
Foss proposes a “best fit” grading system for the “highest, most consistent level of performance.” The ideal grading system, he says, would allow teachers to use their judgment when it comes to final grades. Like in the example above, if a student improves over the course of a year or semester, a teacher can consider the student’s development when deciding his or her final grade. In turn, if a student’s performance declines throughout a semester, a teacher can take the student’s regression into account.
“In school it pains me to see and hear how hyper-focused all stakeholders are on numbers. It highlights the fact that we value numbers over the process of individual improvement. I understand that I live in a number driven society where you know report cards are needed and parents need to see numbers, and colleges need to see numbers… I’m not against that. It’s how we get to that final number that drives me crazy.”
Grades are vital in the education system, but what holds true is the growth and development of a student. Foss advocates, “I believe we need to move to a system that allows us to focus on progress, and to look for a ‘best fit’ model, which for me means the highest, most consistent level of performance. We should grade on the quality of the process, and the quality of the progress, rather than on a mathematically driven number.”
