Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 04:10:50 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Random Thought: Keeping Score

It's 3:28 a.m. I'm having trouble sleeping. My head is pounding, my nose is stuffed, my eyes burn from a sinus cold that erupted Sunday without warning. The medicene is working too, too slowly.

I've been roaming among the student journals, project evaluations, my daily written comments and observations, final student self-evaluations and evaluations of other members of their triads that are strewn about the living room as I struggle with that very uneducational process of assigning final course grades. I've been thinking about how so many of us use the grade as a sorting mechanism that slots students into "A", "B", "C", "D", "F" pigeon holes; how so many of use a number or a letter to decide if a student as bright, average, dumb, good or bad. But, you know if we use an acadmeic numerical or letter grade as the only way we keep score of people, if we use a grade or GPA or score to decide whom we like or dislike, whom we admire or disdain, whom we find exciting and interesting or a bore, whom we notice or ignore, whom we applaud or grumble about, whom we brag about or complain about, whom we elevate or denigrated, whom we respect or disrespect, whom we befriend or shun, whom we love or even hate, then, every other human quality, relationship, dream, endeavor in our schools is corrupted.

I hope this glass of warm milk does it work fast. Good night--or should I say good morning.