Leave grading to the teachers

Re: “Education minister to probe problem of inflated grades” (Montreal Gazette, April 29) and “Falsifying student success is a mistake” (Celine Cooper, May 1)

Precision timers are used to determine winners of marathon races, and while losing by a couple of seconds can be very frustrating, the result is objective and fair.

This is not the case with school grades, which are not objective in any subject area.

As a teacher for more than 30 years, I know that the type of assessment chosen, the choice of particular questions, the mark allotment for each question, and the weight given to one assessment over another are just a few of the factors that come into play when assessing students.

While a mathematical formula objectively determines a final mark, there is no precision to the final mark.

Final marks of 58 per cent or 59 per cent should not be allowed; however, teachers should have the final say on their students’ marks. These are not contradictory statements. Teachers should be required to reflect on the final grades of students that come very close to a pass and then decide whether or not, in their professional opinion, the student deserves a passing grade.

If yes, then the teacher will agree to raise the mark to 60 per cent — and if not, the teacher should agree to lower the mark to 55 per cent.

Creating a parliamentary committee to study the issue is a waste of resources. If there is money to spare, it should be invested in studying alternate forms of assessments to allow for more accurate student evaluations. Elaine Wisenthal Milech, educational consultant, Montreal West