Why school grades and reports could be scrapped under a radical new plan
School reports could be a thing of the past under a radical proposal to have students taught according to their ability, not their age.
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has put forward a controversial submission to a federal government review into schools.
The ACER wants to end the existing school system where students are graded on the content they have learnt, with marks ranging from A to E.
The independent non-profit group argued there were advanced Year 3 students who could read at the same standard as an average Year 9 student.
“We can no longer pretend that students of the same age are more or less equally ready for the same learning experience,” its submission, cited by The Australian, said.
“The problem with A to E grades and similar methods of reporting is that they do not show where students are in their long-term learning or indicate progress over time.”
The researchers also believe it is better to replace end-of-term school reports with “more informative, ongoing forms of communication”.
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said that he wasn’t keen on no longer grading students.
“Progression should be considered against both the starting abilities of a student and relative to their year level expectations of competency,” he told The Australian.
The Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools is due to deliver a final report and recommendations to the Turnbull Government in March 2018.
What do you think of these proposed changes to scrap grading and reports in schools? Let us know in the comments below.