Chapter 7: The Relative Nature of Grades and Their Definitions

Chapter 7 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses grades themselves, and what exactly about grades makes them so feared in the classroom – what gives grades their power, and where do we make critical decisions about the weight of grades. The first main question that the chapter addresses is whether or not good teachers bend in grading decisions with individual students. The chapter makes the good point of stating that the teacher’s role is not to feed information and then simply grade how much was digested – the teacher’s role is to facilitate understanding. If bending in a grading decision will help a student to learn more, then it is the teacher’s responsibility to do so and understand why he is doing so. The second big debate in the chapter on grading is whether students should be graded at all. There is a substantial movement to eliminate grading altogether, as adding an extrinsic reward to student work eventually diminishes the quality of the work. The chapter includes these perspectives not because it agrees with them, but because they offer perspectives counter to grade-obsessed views that are more prevalent.