Equitable Grading Intends to Benefit All, but Students Will Need Help Adjusting

Equitable grading, the education system that focuses more on tests and less on homework, is gaining in popularity across the country. While it has the opportunity to help students with demanding out-of-school commitments or difficult home life situations, other students will need help adjusting to the new standard, which is where a tutoring service like Sylvan Learning can help.

Joe Feldman, founder and CEO of Crescendo Education Group, is the leader of the Equitable Grading Project. He aptly analogizes the equitable grading system to basketball in a comment he made to News Nation: “If I have a basketball game on Saturday, I go in the backyard and I shoot free throws for an hour — nobody is looking to see how many free throws I make and then bringing it to the game and adding it to my score. It is very clear to me that I practice shooting those free throws because I need to practice in order to do well in the assessment. Same thing for homework, right?”

While homework can still be assigned in an equitable grading system, the students are encouraged to complete it with the aim of learning and practicing for future examinations, rather than for the purpose of a completion grade. Teachers give feedback to students on their practice tasks and the focus is to continually improve. This can benefit students who have a homelife that is not conducive to homework, and also can benefit students who genuinely have mastered the material as it more accurately assesses their understanding and skill level.

While this system seems promising, critics worry that some students will not thrive and academic rigor will slip due to the strong emphasis on self-motivation and organizational skills. So how can students make the most of equitable grading practices? According to Emily Mitchell, Vice President of Education at Sylvan Learning, tutoring can help keep them on track. Sylvan Learning provides students with an individualized, neutral evaluation they may not receive in school.

“We are a neutral third party,” explains Mitchell. “We can tell parents how their kids are doing as measured against the skills they need to learn and how their kids are doing compared to other kids their age.”

In addition to helping students comprehend the curriculum, tutoring can help students who struggle with organization and self-motivation by offering guidance on how to stay focused throughout the school year.

Many students struggle with executive functioning skills that are not explicitly taught in schools. While parents can try to instill these skills, the parent-child dynamic in an already stressful situation can cause tension. Tutors can help with that. Mitchell details how tutors can take the time to “clear out the binders, work on a game plan, color code so the student can be organized and plan out a schedule for homework, studying for tests, and for their whole day.”

Sylvan Learning offers study skills programs for students grades 4-12 to further help them prepare for equitable grading systems that focus on tests for calculating grades. Tutoring offers a more individualized approach, taking each student’s needs into account. “The other great thing about equitable grading and tutoring,” said Mitchell, “is that tutoring works at the students' own pace, so they won’t be left behind.”