One of the great myths of American education is that traditional grades actually have a meaning.
The reality that I've come to recognize in my teaching career is that grades can mean any, or all, of several different things, or some partial combination thereof, and that there is no way to tell which of those meanings a grade carries without asking the teacher for specifics about how s/he graded that particular student. (There is also the fact that the supposedly "objective" percentages on which traditional grades are based are among the most wildly random and subjective measures imaginable, but that's a topic for another day.)
This was what was going through my mind a couple of days ago as I listened to Ron Reagan and the listeners to his radio show grading Obama's first 100 days.
So I'm not giving Obama a grade. I'm giving him three of them. Take your pick.
When trying to come up with a single letter to summarize a student's academic performance, I have to think about what I want to measure:
* How well the student has mastered the stated learning objectives? So, should a student get an "A" if they sit on their ass the whole term, but are naturally gifted enough that just by sitting in the classroom they are able to absorb enough information to do well on tests? Even if that is only maybe 25% of what that student would have been capable of learning if s/he had applied her/himself? How much of a predictor of future success will such a grade be? What misleading impressions will it give about the student to future college admissions boards or employers? (Lest you think I am being too harsh on the poor smart kid, let me say this was me. I learn well in structured school settings. I do well on tests, whether standardized or individualized, through no fault or merit of my own. I got A's and B's for most of my life without breaking a sweat. I'm not sure how well this record served me in later life.)
* How hard the student works, how much effort and initiative s/he puts into the task of learning. How often the student asks questions in class, or stays after class to talk with me about something that is confusing. How often s/he turns in homework, and whether s/he has actually used the homework problems as a learning and practice experience rather than rushing through, just slapping down the first answer that comes to mind in an effort to finish so s/he can get back to the video games or texting.
* How much the student has learned and grown. What of the student who comes into my class 2 or 3 years behind grade level in math, but somehow a light bulb goes off, and her/his test scores shoot up by twice the typical increase -- but the student is still in the "low to low-average" range? What is an appropriate grade for that student? An A for progress? A D for where they are in relation to grade-level learning objectives? Something in between?
It is hard to come up with a single letter that appropriately balances these differing, and often competing, considerations. There are things I do, and information I enter into the grading software, to help make the meaning of the grade more transparent, but many students and parents only pay attention to the letter itself. It can be a discouraging situation for a teacher like me, who just wishes we could do away with the whole letter-grade system.
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As I listened to Ron and his listeners, I kept thinking that how I grade Obama depends on which question I want my grade to answer:
How would I rate his accomplishements and his positions on issues that matter to me?
How is he doing compared to the towering expectations that I, and many others, had for him during the months leading up to the election and the Inauguration?
How is he doing compared to the previous administration (or the past few administrations)?
On the first question, I would have given him a B+ before today's presser. The guy has been doing some really good stuff, on everything from the Lily Ledbetter law to issuing an executive order forbidding torture. But there have been some very troubling aspects as well. The Wall Street connections in his financial appointsments, the continuation of the Bush admin's position on state secrets, the whole "looking forward" thing in regard to torture. His response on state secrets today gave me hope on that issue, so at this point I'm not sure if I'd still give him a B+, or upgrade it to an A-.
On the second, I think the grade would be a bit lower. B or B-. Maybe even a C+ if I were willing to be brutally honest with myself. But more likely a B-. I'm not sure it's fair to grade him on the hope that I as a supporter held for him, especially when such hope was beyond what any reasonable, thinking human being could actually think was grounded in reality. On the other hand, the only reason I held such. . . well, unreasoning hope is because he was so skillful at cultivating it. I still think that the specifics of what we are seeing are not the whole story; that there are strategies and long-term plans in place that will only reach fruition in future months and years. But there are days when the prosaic overrides the hopeful in my perceptions of what he is doing and where he's going.
As to the third question, there really can be no possible grade other than A+. Again, I'm not sure how fair it is to give him the benefit of this grade, because merely being able to recite and follow any single clause of the Constitution would have been enough to earn an A in this category. But really, how could you listen to the complex, nuanced thought on display at today's press conference and give him anything other than an A+ for this category, if for no other reason than the contrast with the inarticulate bumblings and ramblings and embarrassments that passed for presidential speaking for the past eight long, long, long years?
To paraphrase the O-man himself: I'm pleased, but not content; still-hopeful, but not satisfied. I will be looking to the next 100 days, and the hundreds after that, for continued progress toward the America that I have always dreamed of and believed in.
Still, I am grateful to Obama for continually hammering home to all of us that it is what WE do, and not just what he does, that determines whether that dream will be realized.