To many students, achieving A’s in many or all of their classes is the ultimate goal of each semester. However, it is becoming increasingly stressful for these students to keep up with all of their assignments as they are now solely placing value on the summatives.
Summative grades can be both detrimental and very beneficial towards a student’s grade. Each semester, formatives out-number summatives meaning a slight change in grade on a summative is more likely to really change a student’s grade than a formative would.
Our school has an 80-20 split between summatives and formatives. This means that all grades on things like tests, projects, and some quizzes collectively make up 80% of your overall grade while formatives in their entirety make up 20% despite there being many more. If you were to achieve all A’s on these assignments but choose not to work on the formatives, it would leave the student with a B-, an above average and passing grade. Conversely, if a student were to do poorly on summative assessments but well on their formatives, there is a small chance that they would be able to achieve a high score.
Still, many students wish to see the highest letter grade possible, an A. This is called Grading Obsession. Both formative and summative assignments must be completed despite only having to focus on the summatives to achieve a good grade. This can lead to increased stress levels as most classes usually have work for students to do each night while also having them prepare for their upcoming test. According to an article by Queen’s University, “A fixation on grades can lower a students’ self esteem and life satisfaction.”
There is, however, a solution to this issue. An old grading system can be brought back that evens the levels at which students are being graded. Previously, the district used three headings to categorize assignments: Practice being worth the least at 15%, Application being in the middle at 35%, and Assessment being worth the most at 50%. This system still places emphasis on Tests and Projects while also allowing students to delegate work in order to still receive a high grade.
