FIAE Chapter 8

Participation is not an indicator of a student’s knowledge, and it should not be assessed as such. I understand how difficult it is to find a way to make participation, which included attendance, effort, behavior, preparedness, etc., a meaningful grade. Students, especially in high school, should be held accountable for these areas, but they shouldn’t be used against students, or used to motivate them. Effort can be evaluated in individual assignments and participation can be evaluated for other assignments such as debates, but effort and participation in regards to the class as a whole should not be included in the academic grading system. Every student is in a different stage developmentally and some just are not ready to contribute to discussions while others are. Some students even feel intimidated when trying to contribute and shut down because of it. Should these students be given poor grades because of that? I do not believe so. If I feel that those particular students need to contribute, more I will find other ways, such as online discussion forums that will allow them to contribute in a more comfortable environment for them. I think the important thing to take from this chapter is to be careful about grading students for participation, effort, and behavior because it mostly makes things worse for you and the students.