Board of Education Testimony: May 29, 2002

Good afternoon. My name is Brian Stelter. I am a Junior at Damascus High School and will be the Secretary for the Montgomery County Region of the Maryland Association of Student Councils next year.

I am sure that you all recall recieving your report cards as kids. For many students, it can be a harrowing and unnerving moment. As long as so much weight and importance will be assigned to one letter -- as long as grades will make and break a child's opportunity for success in life -- students should almost always be given the benefit of the doubt never be able to say "I didn't know what my grade was."

When you ask a student, "what don't you like about your grades?," you get some interesting responses. And beyond the obvious -- "I wish they were higher" -- you realize that students care a LOT about what their report card says.

And they have to. Grades result in awards, or punishment. Grades are the primary factor in whether or not a student attends a prestigious college. And like it or not, when faced with a 69 or 79 or 89%, a student could see his whole life flash before his eyes: "But without straight A's..!" or "But if I fail this class..!"

When considering changes to grading policy, these facts must be forefront in everyone's minds.

Most importantly, students NEED to KNOW their grade at all times. "That way I can tell if my grades are dropping so I can get them up before they go down so much that I'm in a hole I cant dig out of," a student told me, expressing the typical student viewpoint. And go figure -- with the knowledge that he or she must work harder the rest of the marking period, they might actually learn more from the course!

One of the beliefs outlined in the Grading & Reporting Policy Revision is that "All students and parents should receive information about the studentŐs progress regularly and frequently." Many students, see little harm in recieving a grade sheet every week. I know that I hear grade sheet requests in my science class every day. Perhaps a bit less frequent is more realistic.

In asking students what bothered them most about grades, awareness was the key issue. They wanted to know their grade at all times, and in many cases, they don't. Like it or not, grades can make or break so much. I'm always in shock when my brother or a friend tells me that "I didn't know what my grade was" until the end of the marking period. It sets students up for failure and disaster, at least in their mind. And it's not just students who want to be informed. "Parents usually want to see how their kids are doing," another student wisely pointed out to me.

In my mind, the most efficient, effective way to do this would be to establish an online grade book program for teachers to update and students and parents to view, though it may be costly and would only be a solution for some students.

As you embark on the process of revising the Grading & Reporting policy and regulations, please keep the importance of grades and their impact on students at the forefront of your mind. The more aware and knowledgeable that students are about their grades, the more they will excel in their academic pursuits. Thank you very much.