Grading during an international pandemic

To those who have posted about “supporting mental health” and walked for suicide awareness, now is the time to understand that every ethnicity and socioeconomic class is under incredible stress and should support credit/no credit as a way to stay sane.

To everyone who loudly and proudly proclaims that we should support our health care workers, delivery drivers, cleaning professionals, elderly-caregivers and all the other essential workers, remember that they have children at home. Those kids need our permission to focus on their health and their families. They will continue to participate in “school” like all other children, but maybe they can’t get their minds to engage completely.

To parents who believe it should be the “student’s choice” to earn a letter grade, know that our students are rarely the ones choosing. Most times our kids have “choice” it’s actually an illusion of choice driven by adults and institutions. And though people try to say there will be no penalty for “choosing” credit/no credit, guaranteed there will be judgment without understanding.

To students who believe you need letter grades to prove your worth, that’s just simply untrue. You are worthy regardless of your GPA. You are loved unconditionally. Do not wait for others to judge you to determine your value, take this time to focus on learning and exploring and dreaming about how you can solve the world’s next great challenge.

To my peers who have complained about the college admissions process, the intensity and the unreasonable pressure that exists for high schoolers today, please take a deep breath. Now is our chance to find our center and experiment with other paradigms around learning and feedback. Public and private universities around the nation understand the magnitude of the situation and are adjusting their admissions criteria accordingly. Who’s to say that they consider any letter grades from this spring even if they are on the transcript? These universities will also take this moment to reflect on their selection process and may make permanent changes.

To the parents who appreciate teachers in May with food and gift cards, thank you! The way you can appreciate us this year is by recognizing that teachers are working harder than we’ve ever worked, with less effect. We worry about the health and safety of our students and their families. We worry about having to eliminate content and how that will affect courses next year. We worry about technology and fairness and cheating and being entertaining enough for students to stay engaged and living up to our own professional standards. Teachers want to continue to teach and they desperately want students to continue to learn. Trying to maintain a particular level of rigor to assign letter grades in the traditional way and think it will mean the same thing as it did last year or the year before is unfeasible.

To everyone who thinks teenagers “don’t care,” please show them how.

In such a disrupted time, we all crave control and consistency which makes traditional letter grades seem especially appealing. We fear the future but that can’t be the driving force in this decision. Let’s permanently acknowledge the educational chaos that’s happening as a result of an international pandemic by temporarily moving to credit/no credit for all high school students this semester.

Let our humanity win.

Jennafer Carson has been a teacher at Menlo-Atherton High School for over 20 years. A math teacher by trade, she currently focuses on supporting high-need students as the coordinator of the Sequoia Aspirations Advocate Program. She has a master’s degree in Education Policy and Leadership from Stanford University and won San Mateo County’s Emily Garfield Award for Counseling. Mrs. Carson is also a mother of three children (one each in SUHSD, SMUHSD and SMFCSD). She is active in the community with coaching, volunteering and various school and youth sports executive boards.