Is Grading Ever Fair?
That’s the main question. I don’t believe that there’s ever going to be a completely fair way to grade students. There’s the static grade system, in which the raw number you get is changed into a letter with a plus, a minus, or neither. There is also the bell curve (standard deviation) and scaling. Everyone feels quite differently about these systems of grading (and sometimes, grading in general), so it seems as if there is no right answer.

Grading by a static number becomes unfair if the teacher’s tests are too difficult and everyone does poorly, or if the teacher’s tests are too easy and everyone passes with flying colors. Bell curves become unfair when everyone is within a small range and the standard deviation is low (for example, if everyone scores within 90-95%).

It all depends on the situation. But which is a teacher to choose?

I personally see nothing wrong with the bell curve if it does not screw people over too much. If the median grade for the course is set at a B, then I believe it’s fair (if not slightly more than fair). This way, getting a C would require the student to do relatively poorly and sink below the median. The median, mind you, is quite different from the average. The median of 85, 94, and 97 is 94, while the average is 92. I feel that scaling grades should only result in an increase in points. If the median grades of a teacher’s tests hit the low 70s or lower, then scaling is in order, since the test is naturally hard. It is unlikely that every student in the class will slack off; someone should be prepared enough to do well on the test.

Static grades are fair (since they are flat numbers), but become unfair if everyone fails. If everyone fails a teacher’s class, the class is too difficult. If everyone gets an A, the class is too easy. It sounds mean, but someone has to do worse than someone else in the class; someone should be challenged enough that they get a lower grade. I believe that no one should fail if it isn’t necessary, but some C’s are in order (even if that’s the lowest grade available). Of course, if I, as a teacher, were to dish out every tough challenge in the book and every student passed, I would definitely give them all A’s and B’s.

How I’d Like to Grade
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, although I’m far away from being able to teach and implement a policy. Most high schools have their own grading policies set up that dictate how grades will be calculated. If I ever were able to create my own grading policy, I would add a conduct curve. I would do this because in the workplace and in life, you are not evaluated just on how well you do work, but how you act. A star NFL player with on-the-field conduct problems may get ejected from the game or fined. In the office, bad conduct can get you fired, even if you do a great job on your reports or during meetings. Therefore, I feel that students should be punished for bad conduct and rewarded for good conduct. I don’t mean the “Conduct” section of the report card, either. My idea is that good conduct would be rewarded with extra points on the student’s grade (+3-5%), while bad conduct would result in a grade penalty (-3-5%). It should be enough to move an A- to an A or the bad student with a B- to a C+. This should give students more incentive to behave better, since a .3 – .4 drop (or increase) in GPA could mean a lot when it all adds up.

Other than that, I believe I’d grade on raw numbers and scale if the grades are too low.