Teachers, think quick: A (fill in the blank here—parent, student, administrator) asks you to change a grade. What do you do?
Regardless of how you ultimately respond to a grade-request change, the act itself is likely to send you immediately into defensive mode. And nobody’s learning anything when that happens.
While recent surveys indicate that grade-change requests may be on the rise, especially at the college and high school levels, educators aren’t completely defenseless against them.
Applying proactive strategies on the front end can work to prevent or minimize what’s known as “grade grubbing” later. These tactics range from simple procedural and communication strategies to more sweeping, philosophical ideas that consider how best to assess what students are learning and question what grades are really for.
The following downloadable resource offers six tips from teachers and experts to avoid getting into a grade-grubbing predicament.
