To Grade or Not to Grade

Recently, I have been reflecting on how I grade students in fifth and sixth grade art, and wondering if grades make a difference in students’ abilities as young artists. In Susan D. Blum’s book, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), she states, “The point is, when we grade, we really convey very little information about what is being assessed. But we can convey it in other, fuller ways.” What are some of these “fuller ways,” and how can they be implemented in art education?

Preparing the Canvas
I became an art teacher because I love to share my passion with students, but I do not like having to assess their art. Summative assessment is hard, and I often wonder if my comments make a difference in how students view the success of their art.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to have many students excel in art; whether it’s clay, painting, or digital design. Some students get the hang of it from the beginning. But what about the students who struggle to hold a pencil or who can’t use a ruler to draw a straight line? Should I hold all students to the same standard?

In Blum’s book, Jesse Stommel says, “Grades are not good incentive….grades are not good feedback….grades are not good markers of learning….grades encourage competitiveness over collaboration….grades don’t reflect the idiosyncratic, subjective, often emotional character of learning….finally, grades aren’t fair.” So, as a highly qualified, certified art educator with many years of teaching experience, how can I improve how I assess student art?

The Creative Process of Ungrading
Stommel states, “Grading and assessment are two distinct things, and spending less time on grading does not mean spending less time on assessment. Assessment is inevitable.” If art educators can implement a variety of assessment strategies, perhaps grading could become more authentic.

According to the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment (MAEIA) website, “Performance assessment asks students to apply their knowledge and skills to create a product, presentation, or demonstration focused on key aspects of standards. MAEIA assessments are aligned to standards that ask students to create, perform/present, and respond. In this way, assessment becomes part of the creative and learning process, rather than a separate experience.”

Options for Grading in Art
What if we had students reflect on their work and write a self-assessment based on defined criteria for each assignment? Implementing ideas from the MAEIA assessment could help teachers develop their own authentic assessments.

Stommel suggests, “Try having the first and third of the term be ungraded, a sandbox for students to experiment inside before moving on to the more formal activities of a course. Or decide to grade only a few major assignments.” If we can give ourselves permission to grade less, perhaps our grades will mean more. For example, if I only grade the first digital design project and let the subsequent ones be skill-builder activities, the final project could be graded as a culmination of all the prior learning.

Portfolios
As artists, we are all familiar with creating a portfolio that highlights our best work. What if students create digital portfolios in the upper grades and large folder portfolios in the younger grades that are assessed as a body of work, instead of giving out individual grades for each assignment?

Stommel adds, “The key is to use a portfolio not as a mere receptacle for assignments but as a metacognitive space, one with immediate practical value as a way for students to share their work.”

Reflections
Rethinking how and why we grade doesn’t need to become a negative conversation with our administrators. I believe it’s important to come to our own conclusions about why we grade, what letter grades mean to students, and what our teaching environment would look like if we didn’t grade or revised how we grade. Perhaps students would experience more joy in art-making if they knew it wasn’t always going to be assessed. To grade or not to grade, what are our future options?