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  3. Wad-Ja-Get? The Grading Game in American Education

Wad-Ja-Get? The Grading Game in American Education

2021, 50th Anniversary Edition Howard Kirschenbaum, Rodney Napier, and Sidney B. Simon; With a new introduction by Professor Barry Fishman
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  • Overview

  • Contents

Grades and grading are an accepted part of modern education. But why? Why do we accept a system that is more focused on ranking students than on learning? Why do we accept the negative effects of standard grading approaches, including turning students off from learning, increasing stress, creating winners and losers, and perpetuating racial and economic inequality? Why do we accept these things when there are better alternatives?

Wad-Ja-Get? is a unique discussion of grading and its effects on students. The book was written by three education professors who have had first-hand contact with the problems of grading in all its forms. Written in the form of a novel, the topic is explored through the eyes of students, teachers, and parents in one high school embroiled in a controversy around grading. Possible alternatives to the grading system are examined in detail and the research on grading is summarized in an appendix. This 50th anniversary edition of the book includes a new introduction by Professor Barry Fishman, updating the research and setting the original book in the context of today’s educational and societal challenges. Wad-Ja-Get? remains timely five decades after its original publication, and will be inspiring to students, parents, educators, and policymakers.

  • Cover
  • Half Title
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgements
  • Introduction to the 50th Anniversary Edition
  • Introduction to the First Edition
  • 1 The First Debate: The Grading of Creativity
  • 2 An Introduction to Mapleton High School: Three Viewpoints
  • 3 Mr. Cannon’s Class Argues about Grades
  • 4 The Class Reports on the History of Grading
  • 5 The Alumnus and the Grading Game
  • 6 Mr. Cannon’s Class Begins a Project
  • 7 The Teacher’s Dilemma over Grading
  • 8 To “B” or Not to “B”
  • 9 The Principal and the Position Paper
  • 10 The Day the Consultant Came
  • 11 The Faculty Faces the Facts
  • 12 The PTA Hears about the Research on Grades
  • 13 The Committee Examines Alternatives to Traditional Grading
  • 14 A Recommendation for Change
  • Appendix A: An Annotated Bibliography of Research on Grading
  • Appendix B: Alternative Grading Systems
  • Notes and References
  • Author Biographies
Citable Link
Published: 2021
Publisher: Maize Books
ISBN(s)
  • 9781607856818 (open access)
  • 9781607856795 (paper)
  • 9781607856801 (ebook)
Subject
  • Education / Testing & Measurement
  • Education / Teaching Methods & Materials
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