File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Decision to do away with letter grades gets a big Fail

Jul 5, 2023 | 4:57 AM

MAYBE YOU DISAGREE but I consider myself to be a relatively well-adjusted human being unscarred by the trauma of letter grades in my early years.

Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon to receive a C- (and, occasionally, a D) on my report card, with a written comment from the teacher along the lines of, “Mel needs to work harder.”

This did not turn me into a deeply disturbed kid. Actually, it gave me a good idea of where I stood in the learning continuum and made it clear that I better pull up my socks.

Once in a while, though, some well-meaning progressive educator comes up with the notion that letter grades are somehow detrimental. Some people get paid to decide whatever methodology is currently in place in the school system is bad for kids and must be changed.

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Remember open classrooms, where some genius decided we should remove all the walls and all classes at all levels should be taught in the same space? After everyone tired of shouting over the noise, the idea was abandoned.

And there are all those new teaching-to-read systems that have come and gone and proven not to work nearly as well as the good old-fashioned methods of actually figuring out how to spell.

Now, B.C.’s Ministry of Education has decided letter grades are a problem again. From Kindergarten to Grade 9, kids will be assessed as emerging, developing, proficient or extending, instead of being graded from A to F. What does that even mean?

Consultation showed that teachers, students and parents all think it’s a bad move but, hey, what do they know compared to highly paid experts with ideas based on nothing?

The change has been piloted over the past several years, but it will be province wide in September. It will, says Education Minister Rachna Singh, give “deeper insight” into learning and development.

Sure it will. Some educators, and politicians, never learn.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.