What Kind of Life Has It Been

This is a column I wrote for my weekly North Star column, the Soapbox:

They finally took down that sign that says, “What’s good for the best is best for the rest.” Speaking as one of “the rest,” I’m grateful. Of course, I don’t know what this banner was originally trying to say, but the message it always sent was the same misguided message I see everywhere in our educational system: It’s not how much you learn, but how much better you are than everyone else.
The most obvious sign of this priority confusion can be seen in any honors level course when report cards come out. “What’s your rank?” is the most pertinent question one hears. Everyone wants to establish right away whom they’re above and who’s still above them.
And other students, as they receive their report cards, cry out in distress and anguish: “Oh no, I got a B in Interdisc!” This is ridiculous. How tragic to get an above average grade in an extremely challenging class. I’ve seen kids cry over a B, or over a low class rank, because they’re so concerned about being the best they can’t see how well they’re doing.
Now I realize some of you might not see a problem with the scenarios I’ve described. You’ve lived in this system all of your lives. It seems to me, though, that a system with the primary aim of educating as many students as possible as well as possible wouldn’t feel the need to tell them six times a year exactly how smart they are compared to each other. What educational purpose does this serve?
And what about grades? Originally they were designed as a system for assessing the performance of a student, so it would be easier to report this performance to their parents. And then colleges started to use them to choose which students they’d accept. This is where grades went wrong, because once a grade determines something as vital as where you can and can’t go to college it becomes very important. Suddenly the grade is the only goal that matters, not the performance itself and certainly not how much education occurs. Students will either cheat or stress themselves to death to get the best grade, knowing that in the end what’s important in school is the letter on that piece of paper. The tail of grades has begun to wag the dog of education.
This phenomenon is especially obvious when it comes to the ISTEP test. Theoretically, the ISTEP should test how much students already know. Instead, we have actual classes designed to teach to the ISTEP test, and other classes take time away from actually studying material to spend a few weeks on “ISTEP prep.”
Of course the ISTEP isn’t just about internal competition, it’s about external competition. Thanks to the “No Child Left Behind” program, standardized test scores determine funding for a school, so we need to be better than all the other schools.
Now some will say that without grades and competition, nothing would compel students to do well or teachers to teach better. Competition is a motivator. The problem is that it’s a poor motivator. Those students near the top may strive to get nearer to it, but at a certain point you can no longer win. If you slack off for your first two years, what’s the point of working hard junior year? Your record is shot already. Now I’m not saying we need to abolish grades. They have their purpose and in any event they’re buried far too deeply in the system. But the ideas I’ve expressed here should be kept in mind. So the next time you see a B or C on your report card, don’t freak out- it’s just a grade. Learning as much as you can in each class should be your goal – and that’s what’s best for the rest.