Grades in a Japanese School

On Tuesday, February 25, 2014 Dr. Doug Corey of Brigham Young University (when I was an undergraduate at BYU, I was one of Dr. Corey's research assistants) and Dr. Ninomiya of Saitama University and one graduate student came to my school and observed three lessons. After those lessons we sat down and talked about Japanese Education. I was really inspired by how grades are used in Japanese schools.

Students grades seem to be largely dependent on a few things:

• End of term exam
• Attendance and participation
• And sometimes homework assignments, other tests or quizzes

But students aren't given grades until the end of the semester, which has some very powerful implications, including motivating students, eliminates labeling, shifting the focus to concepts, and it forces students to retain their learning.

Not knowing what your current grade is highly motivating

Students want to know their current grade as an indicator of if they are doing enough, either enough to get an A or enough to pass. Once students grade has received that feedback, they will continue in their current path for the rest of the year. But what if you didn't know if you were doing enough to get an A or if you were doing enough to pass. Would you do more or less? I think most students would do more, to ensure they get the grade they want.

Eliminates student labeling

I think that grades become a label for a student. Many students have been labeled by themselves or by their parents as A students. They, and their parents, expect them to get As in every class. Other students are looking to get a B, or C, or just enough to pass. I believe that this labeling mentality would be eliminated if students didn't carry their grade through the semester, every semester.

Shifts the focus from grades to concepts

Conversations with students aren't about grades, they are about concepts. Students won't come to their teacher and ask the question "How can I get an A?" or "How do I bring up my grade?" Their grade isn't in the forefront of their mind, the content of the class is.

Students are forced to continue working and retain what they learn

Because tests and quizzes aren't given throughout the semester, students understand that a major factor of their grade is a cumulative assessment. This alone has important implications. For example

• Students with strong grades will not "rest on their laurels" and not focus for the exam. These students will work especially hard on these exams. I think we do our students a disservice when they have such a high grade, that their end of semester exam won't change their grade much.
• Students need to remember all of the major ideas and concepts until the end of the term. I have found myself trying to test students right away "before they forget" because I assume that they will. If they know that they won't be assessed for several months, then the expectation is that they will remember.

If you disagree with any of my above implications, please comment below. Or, if you have more implications that you would like to add, please comment below. I would love to have a discussion about these.

How will this affect my teaching?

There is currently a school policy that one grade must be put in the grade book every week. I would not be allowed to have an empty grade book for a quarter, give a quarter test, and then put in two or three grades. If any student failed, then I would face major problems.

On the other hand, this mentality does lend itself nicely to Standards Based Grading. I am not an expert on Standards Based Grading, but I like the idea in theory. My fear is I don't know enough high school math teachers who use Standardized Based Grading, so I am cautious to use it. It is such a mind shift for students and parents. Maybe one day in the future I will look into this.

If you have any other suggestions on how these ideas could be implemented in American schools, please let me know.