A recent article in the Washington Post gave me more food for thought on the whole issue of grades. It seems there is quite a hullabaloo in our area about the different ways school divisions calculate grade point averages. Not every school district weighs every class the same. As a result, the same course load can earn students higher GPAs in some districts than in others.
It saddens me because it shows, yet again, that what matters most to parents and students are the grades, not the learning. I find that to be a sad commentary on the state of education today. Educators talk frequently about wanting to encourage students to become life-long learners. Grades encourage the polar opposite.
