If Standards Are Absolute...

By Lois E. Easton

Achievement used to be a variable. Students performed variously well or poorly and earned (or were awarded) grades according to achievement—A for superior performance, B for better-than-average performance, C for average performance, D for below-average performance, and F for insufficient performance. All but F counted in terms of passing from one grade to another or graduating from high school. Although high achievement, represented through grade point average or class rank, was desirable, any performance short of failure was sufficient. Achievement was the variable in the equation of school.

With achievement a variable, other factors of schooling could be absolutes. Time and place, curriculum, learning style, and assessment techniques—all of these could be absolutes. Nine months was the time period judged adequate for deciding if students were ready to pass from grade to grade. Sure, in some areas, student achievement might be A, and in others a C or D, but the element of time—being in a grade nine months and having passing grades—was sufficient for entering the next grade. Being in a high school four years and passing all courses resulted in a walk across the stage and a diploma. For the most part, time could be an absolute, and school could be...