A new school year begins, and with it, many students wisely set new goals.  One measurement of a goal achieved is often the report card grade.  What is a grade?  It may be defined as a mark indicating the level of quality or proficiency of a student’s work.  In one sense, grades are objective.  After all, it’s math!  Add up the numbers and divide them to get the percentage, right? But grades take on a subjective, emotional tone when we interpret them incorrectly.  It might be helpful to consider what a grade is not:

• ·         It’s not a gift.
• ·         It’s not a reward or punishment.
• ·         It’s not necessarily an indication of how much or what was learned.
• ·         It’s also not necessarily an indication of how hard one worked.
• ·         It’s not a mark of a student’s innate value. 

            A grade is earned by meeting the criteria set forth by the teacher as indicated in the curriculum. Students also are taught and learn many things during class that are not part of the report card assessment.  Teachers present and model concepts such as a commitment to truth, love, self-discipline, and justice. These items do not show up in homework or on tests, but they are probably more important than the academic content of the class. Some grading systems have attempted to include a value for effort, but effort is difficult for a teacher to assess.  Some students excel at memorization and learn with very little effort.  For others, studying is not as easy.  Because a grade does not measure these things, it is important that parents, teachers, and students themselves do not mistakenly regard the grade as a measure of their innate value or character.

            As the 2012 school year begins, I hope students are setting realistic goals, goals that include getting good grades, the best grades they are capable of.  To do this, they should be prepared to attend class, pay attention and take good notes, read the assigned textbook pages, do the homework, and study the material.  If they do all this, they can be justly proud of the grade they receive, whether it is a C, a B, or an A.