The Unfairness of "A"

As I sit here, waiting on my essay to be returned from the online writing lab before submitting my final project, I'm struck by the unfairness of my grade in my higher-ed course. Oh, I've got an A coming, but that grade is solely due to the fact that I have a great deal of a precious resource at my disposal:  time.

It's why I decided to return to grad school, actually--because I have the time. Thus, my papers and discussion posts and comments and replies are all spiffy nifty sharp and on-topic. I have fun with my assignments. I relish the reading. And, as I discovered of an online course, time = A. Time = better work, better learning, more creativity, stronger connections to the material.

My classmates, who are desperately submitting things at all hours of the night, do what they have to do simply to get it done. They meet the goals, sometimes barely under the wire, sometimes late. I can imagine they have to skim the multiple chapters from the multiple texts we've had to read each week. I came to the conclusion that my A isn't fair.

Is it fair that we will all be assessed with the same criteria, when we don't have the same amount of time at our disposal?

For that matter, is it fair that we assess our students on the same criteria, given that they are coming at any given assignment with a host of individual needs? Now, I'm not talking about the kid who doesn't have a job (although I don't know too many high schoolers without one) or the kid who has all the latest gizmo gadgets.

I'm talking about that one kid, who, if he didn't have to go to school all day and work part-time so as not to be a financial drain on his family, would be submitting creative, powerful work. Or those who lack other resources, such as family support or access to a computer. This student is submitting the bare minimum to get by. What about him?

Is it fair to assess him by the same criteria, if he doesn't have the same resources?

We could argue of my classmates that they should know what they're getting into. These classmates are full-time teachers, and how they'll ever get the time to complete our huge final project, I'll never know. It has taken me upwards of thirty hours or so, on top of the regular classwork. 

Putting myself in their shoes, I see my work as ostentatious overkill and hyper-organized. I color-coded a fifteen page template, not because I was required to, but because it looked more visually pleasing to me. (I went right-brained nuts with it is what I did.) It's feverishly detailed, but compared to those individuals who are straining simply to input the required information, I'm either setting a bar or I'm showing off. Either way, it's got to be frustrating and annoying to look at.

How does that student feel who knows that if he had the time and/or resources, he'd be doing higher-level work?

"They just need time-management," some may say. "We give them enough time to complete their work."

Do we?

Do you have thirty some-odd hours free over the course of two weeks, plus your eight-ten hour days at school, plus your regular reading and outside work to do the project you've assigned to your students?

I know we want students to be creative. I know we want them to experience success. So, how can we allot them the resources they need to level the playing field?  Or, how can we better address the inequity of resources with the assignment criteria?

I admire those who put forth effort in the midst of their maelstrom.







Mindy and some of her former students recently published Transparent Teaching of Adolescents, a discussion of effective teaching strategies for high school. Join the conversation!

 

Grading for Creativity, not Conformity

Comic courtesy of Daniel Powell, illustrator and writer, also one of my former students and co-author of Transparent Teaching of Adolescents. 

I appreciate the much-needed refreshers on the integration of creativity and creative components in lessons for students. I've read about some fantastic ideas for students that allow for artistic expression. We do tend to get stuck in a pedagogical rut now and then, and a splash of imagination simply wakes us up! 

But we need to make sure we are truly emphasizing creativity and not conformity. If we're going to run into trouble with anything to do with creativity, it will be in our assessment of it.

Below is a rubric I found that purports to emphasize creativity:

Category	Exceptional	Above-Avg.	Average	Below-Avg,
Required Elements	Includes all of the required elements as stated in the directions.	Includes all but one or two of the required elements as stated in the directions.	Missing 3 or 4 of the required elements as stated in the directions.	Missing 5 or 6 of the required elements as stated in the directions.
Graphics, Pictures	All are appropriate and add to the enjoyment of the project.	Some are appropriate, and add to the enjoyment of the project.	A few are included and are appropriate to the project.	A few are included, but are inappropriate or distracting.
Creativity	Exceptionally clever and unique; design enhances the project.	Clever at times; thoughtfully and uniquely presented.	A few original or clever touches enhance the project.	Little evidence of uniqueness, individuality, and/or effort.
Neatness, Appeal	Exceptionally neat and attractive; typed or very neatly hand-written, appropriate use of color, particularly neat in design and layout.	Neat and attractive; typed or neatly handwritten, good use of color, good design and layout.	Generally neat and attractive; handwritten, some use of color, some problems in design and layout.	Distractingly messy or disorganized; handwritten; little use of color; several problems in design and layout.

Required Elements: This category, depending on what the required elements are, may be stifling to creativity. Instead, this teacher might consider offering the student an option to choose a single required element or more, thus opening some breathing room for creativity. Consider that the depth of a project is only as good as the depth of the focus. Too many “things” will halt creativity in its tracks. Creativity thrives with focus.

Graphics, Pictures: For a tangible project, I can understand why this category would be here, However, it limits the student to a two-dimensional product. Unless this is a 2D art class, which I’m sure it isn’t, then why the required format? What if the student wanted to create something three-dimensional or create a video, song, or speech? Consider those students who don’t do so well with artwork, per se. However, they can sing or dance.

One of the best thematic analyses I ever received was a student who wrote a piano composition for Chopin’s The Awakening. It was absolutely breathtaking, taking the listener through Edna’s frustrations and realizations.  What really hurts is that the student had to ask me if she could be permitted to write music, given that the assignment was expected to be presented in an online format. I was floored by her request and painfully made aware that I had potentially immobilized any number of other students with my rubric for that project. Creativity and options go hand in hand.

Creativity: Here’s where we may really be messing things up. This shouldn’t be a category at all.  The creative nature of the project is through the process, not the product. Either way, the teacher misses the mark because she’s combined too many points in this category:  uniqueness, cleverness, and effort—all of which are very different, have nothing to do with creativity, and if she wanted to assess them, they’d need to each be their own category! Creativity is not a what, it's a how. 

Neatness/Appearance:  Notice that the student who uses a computer or word processor for this project automatically makes above-average. I’m not saying that graphic art is not creative—it is!—but think like a student for a moment. You’re assured of a better grade if you use a word processor. Already, your creativity is being manipulated.

As we strive to allow students to truly and authentically create, we just need to make sure our assessments of the same do not mistakenly support conformity. Take another look at your rubric.




Mindy Keller-Kyriakides is the author of Transparent Teaching of Adolescents: Defining the Ideal Class for Students and Teachers.  Become part of the conversation!