I Hate Grading

It's the end of our first trimester. This week my students are taking the Constitution test which doubles as their final exam. Overall, students are doing well on it but not so much that it is dragging their cumulative grades down much. But I really dislike this part of my job.

Trying to sum up the achievement and proficiency of students can be a very easy or very difficult task. In math or science, there are very clear right and wrong answers. Not so in history. So much of what we do is subjective rather than objective. How do I determine if my students understand the Constitution or not? Does it really matter if they can't explain the 3rd Amendment?

Its not a question of passing or failing. Most students who fail my class do so because they simply don't do the work - makes my job easy. What is difficult is determining how well the others have performed in my class. Again, there are a handful of students who excel and distinguish themselves from their peers.

No, the difficult group are the ones right in the middle. What are the differences between B and C students? Sure I can assign point values to assignments and grade according to a scale and a rubric and some will have lower scores than others. On Friday though, I will be meeting parents and I have to explain why their student "earned" a certain grade. Some will be easy conversations but those in the middle, those I don't like having to justify.

I wish I had a better system.