This is a super short post on an alternative way to grade students’ work that I learned from several Finnish teachers. I found it to be far more logical and fair than the traditional methods I used in my teaching career.
It’s best understood through example –
Imagine you give a nine-question math quiz with each row of questions increasing in difficulty. Something like this:
| Problem Set A | Solve Mentally.
52 + 50 = ___ 94 + 20 = ___ 102 – 10 = ___
|
| Problem Set B | Solve Mentally.
186 – 41 = ___ 127 + ___ = 167 ___ – 100 = 81
|
| Problem Set C | Solve Mentally.
25 + 75 = ___ + 30 100 – ___ = 25 + 15 + 20 ___ – 200 = 150 – 75
|
Let’s say a student who works extremely hard, does all of her homework, has 99% attendance, and struggles with mental math takes this quiz. Most likely, she will get Problem Set A correct and miss Problem Sets B and C. Her score is 3 out of 9, which is 33% and equivalent to the letter grade F in most American school systems.
But if we thought instead about Level of Understanding, things would turn out differently. Back to the Problem Sets:
- Problem Set A represents Basic Understanding
- Problem Set B represents Intermediate Understanding
- Problem Set C represents Advanced Understanding
If we equate Levels of Understanding with the American letter grade system, that probably means that Basic Understanding is a C, Intermediate Understanding is a B, and Advanced Understanding is an A, and a D is something like two correct on Problem Set A (granted that homework and attendance is consistent).
If you grade the student described above, she now receives a C.
Why does this matter? Because success in life is not determined by your GPA alone. As a manager, I would far prefer to hire someone with a 3.0 GPA who works her butt off, is reliable, and follows through on commitments rather than someone who happens to be very intellectually gifted and for whom things like mathematics and physics come quite easily, but effort is inconsistent because it’s never really been necessary for the person’s success.
But more than that is the huge role that self-concept plays in everyone’s lives, but especially children. Sally Shaywitz, Head of Yale’s Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, has found that how a child feels about him or herself as a learner is more important than how much he or she learns after a year of formal schooling. Children who believe they are smart, capable learners fare better long-term than students who know more academically but do not perceive themselves to be smart.
In Brene Brown’s research on the detrimental impact of shame in people’s lives, 85% of the people interviewed could recall an incident at school from their childhood that was “…so shaming, it changed how they thought of themselves as learners.”
Please believe that I am not an advocate of the so-called “participation trophy.” But I am a big advocate of the work-your-ass-off, show-up-every-day, try-your-best, fail, and try-again trophy.
Because at the end of the day, grading systems, and all performance measures, reveal what we truly value as a society. And if the current system doesn’t reflect our lived values, then it’s time to change the system.
References:
Sally Shaywitz: https://dyslexia.yale.edu/the-center/our-leadership/
Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/
This Post Has 5 Comments
Hi Emily,
Your dear mother gave me your links. After reading your Finnish system summary I’ve had some time to think about its effect on me. Their approach seems based on trust and the innate process of learning. You know, the process we use when learning to walk as we assess ourselves in our many attempts and tiny steps into eventual full throttle running. This is the most beautiful way to learn. A society that fosters this type of learning seems very different than the American society. Did you notice the effect of their learning/teaching methods on the broader social values as well as their life style value of life long learning vs learning for a grade or certificate?
Beyond these thoughts, I thank you and Gibran for stirring hope in my heart. Will follow your endeavors via your links. Happy Trails, Beth Young
Dear Beth,
Thank you for your beautiful message and for all your love and support.
Re: Did you notice the effect of their learning/teaching methods on the broader social values as well as their life style value of lifelong learning vs learning for a grade?
Yes, yes, yes. I’ll start broad and then try to bring it back to evaluation. We learned while in Finland that Finland is one of the happiest and least corrupt countries in the world, and that is what Finns are proud of. They don’t talk about their GDP, rising income levels, or military might. We, on the other hand, as a country talk regularly about wealth and power, and I think that’s because we happen to be the wealthiest country in the world and the most powerful (or at least in the top 3). These value systems are starkly different, but beyond that one system is quantitative and one is qualitative. And when something is quantitative, there will always be a top score and a second score and all the way down to the worst score. You will always fall in a specific numerical income bracket, but there are no brackets for happiness or morality. We don’t measure our happiness by others’ levels of happiness, nor do we decide how moral we are by comparing ourselves with others.
This is one of the things that struck me most about Finnish society: They don’t compete with one another. Teaching is not a competition. Learning is not a competition. Life is not a competition. And without the pressure of the competition, teachers and kids alike relax and are able to focus on the learning, instead of the assessing.
Becoming a teacher in Finland is a very competitive process. Last year, they only accepted 12% of candidates for elementary teaching positions. So there is an intellectual hierarchy at play, and students who want to become teachers or doctors one day know the effort they have to put forth to make that a reality. But still the grading and the competition isn’t the focus of their schooling system.
And, so yeah, I do see it in their society. For the most part, adults aren’t spending their lives thinking about how to make more money, buy a bigger house, or a nicer car. One Finnish teacher and friend said to us, “As for material things, Finns want a house, a car, and maybe a modest summer cottage. And everyone is able to get a house and a car and about half can get a summer cottage.” Other than that, people pursue their passions and enjoy their holidays. He was a musician and a cyclist. His wife a sports’ enthusiast and lover of trivia. He and his wife just returned from a trip abroad and are taking another in a couple of months. 🙂
Dear Beth,
Thank you for your beautiful message and for all your love and support.
Re: Did you notice the effect of their learning/teaching methods on the broader social values as well as their life style value of lifelong learning vs learning for a grade?
Yes, yes, yes. I’ll start broad and then try to bring it back to evaluation. We learned while in Finland that Finland is one of the happiest and least corrupt countries in the world. And that is what Finns are proud of. They don’t talk about their GDP, rising income levels, or military might. We, on the other hand, as a country talk regularly about wealth and power, and I think that’s because we happen to be the wealthiest country in the world and the most powerful (or at least in the top 3). These value systems are starkly different, but beyond that one system is quantitative and one is qualitative. And when something is quantitative, there will always be a top score and a second score and all the way down to the worst score. We will always fall in a specific numerical income bracket, but there are no numerical brackets for happiness or morality. We don’t measure our happiness by others’ levels of happiness, nor do we decide how moral we are by comparing ourselves with others.
And this is one of the things that struck me most about Finnish society: They don’t compete with one another. Teaching is not a competition. Learning is not a competition. Life is not a competition. And without the pressure of the competition, teachers and kids alike relax and are able to focus on the learning, instead of the assessing.
But still becoming a teacher in Finland is a very competitive process. Last year, they only accepted 12% of candidates for elementary teaching positions. So even in their society, there is some form of intellectual hierarchy at play, and students who want to become teachers or doctors one day know the effort they have to put forth to make that a reality. But still the grading and the competition isn’t the focus of their schooling system.
And, so yeah, I do see the effects in their larger society. For the most part, adults aren’t spending their lives thinking about their next raise, buying a bigger house, or a nicer car. One Finnish teacher and friend said to us, “As for material things, Finns want a house, a car, and maybe a modest summer cottage. And everyone is able to get a house and a car and about half can get a small summer cottage.” Other than that, he said that people pursue their passions and enjoy their holidays. He is a musician and a cyclist. His wife a sports’ enthusiast and lover of trivia. He and his wife just returned from a trip abroad and are taking another in a couple of months. 🙂
Last point is that Finns have a social safety net that we do not – free healthcare, free higher ed, free vocational ed, and free adult ed. So regardless of whether you’re a doctor or bus driver, you can provide a dignified life for your family, and because the compulsory schooling system is so strong and higher ed is free, your kids can go to university regardless of your income bracket. I do think that plays a part in the low levels of competition; because if everyone can have a good life and a good life isn’t a zero-sum game, there is no need to race someone up the latter (or knock them off). Last, last point 😊 and it isn’t exactly relevant to our conversation, but still I think is important. The teachers we talked to pay 30% in taxes, and that is not all that much higher than what I pay as a 33-year old professional. So when people say socialist/welfare states pay sky-high taxes, they’re just wrong. And that’s all to say this type of social safety net is possible if we, as a society, decide to make it happen.
So much love,
Emily
This is really interesting Emily. It certainly looks like there are many benefits to this way of life and being. As I think of things, I tend to think of benefits and potential costs.
From your vantage point, are there any downsides to this type of society? Do you believe it is broadly scalable for the world? Do you think that there are people who are better suited for a community that isn’t about pursuing happiness? I guess I’m getting at what makes a society’s values from your perspective better or worse.
Dear Ciji,
What wonderfully complex questions! And so sorry for my delay.
Mostly, I am unsure. Aki, a Finnish teacher with 25+ years of experience, explained to us that (for the most part) Finns do not have grandeur ambitions, like many of us do in the U.S. He thought it was absolutely hilarious and ridiculous that we tell all of our children that they could one day be the president of the U.S. His response to that was, “That’s simply untrue. Every child does not have the abilities to be the president, and that’s perfectly okay because there is a place for everyone.”
For the most part, I do not think it is scalable for the world, mostly because our current reality and culture is steeped in our own history. It seems as though the U.S. will always be known as the “land of opportunity” (whether it truly is or not), and that we are still living the Protestant work ethic nearly 400 years later. So that’s all to say, I do think we will always have a competitive society that focuses on ‘success’ over happiness.
BUT having said all of that, I do think we can do more in our schools to re-define ‘success’ for our children. I think part of that is incorporating Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and helping kids to understand that being ‘smart’ is so much more than reading, writing, and math. If we recognized students for musical, bodily, interpersonal, intrapersonal, etc. capacities, I think every child would be happier because they would see themselves as talented and smart. And if they do struggle academically, they know there is so much more to being intelligent than those academic markers alone.
For me, just as important is celebrating progress, rather than absolute performance. For a high-performing child, it takes so little to get 100, but for a low-performing student to improve 10 points (even if it is from 40-50) is huge.
That’s all to say, I think if we embrace multiple intelligences and praise progress over perfection, our kids will feel better about themselves, and that will lead to more happiness. Because one of the worst feelings is inadequacy, especially when you’re trying as hard as you possibly can.
Re: are there some people better suited for a community that isn’t about pursuing happiness? My instinct is to say probably, but I have no idea what type of people though. There are certainly people who thrive off of competition (e.g., all professional athletes, most top CEOs), but it’s hard to know if that’s nature versus nurture. My final thought is that I think competition is healthy, so long as everyone can be recognized (in some arena) for their talents, and everyone has basic human rights, which for me includes healthcare and education. If the U.S. provided universal healthcare and education, I would find it so much easier to be proud of our country and thus happy living in the U.S.
Thanks for your post! Super thought-provoking and mostly, ideas I’ve never even considered!