26th November 2016 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Last year the University of Cambridge’s student union petitioned to end the tradition of publicly posting class lists – a ranking of students’ academic results – at the University’s senate house. Similarly, parents were outraged when a local newspaper printed the local school’s A-level results “in all their glory” without parental or student consent. In fact legally, as laid out in the 1998 Data Protection Act in the UK, there is nothing stopping schools from publishing results, both internally and externally. It has raised a wider question of what the benefit or harm of publishing results can be. Is it a motivational tool or simply a means of humiliating lower performing students?
There is in fact very little evidence on the effect of sharing results of academic marks with peers, but teachers, students and parents alike have debated its merits and dangers. Advocates feel that posting marks, be it as a ranking of students in a class or exam results, is a useful tool in both rewarding students that are doing well and motivating those who are underperforming. Although for some, seeing others succeed makes their educational goals seem more attainable, for other it introduces a feeling of failure and self-doubt. The Cambridge students’ petition claimed that the automatic public disclosure of results “ignores students’ welfare and right to privacy”. They argued that the system encourages competitiveness not collaboration between students, and exasperates anxiety.
The problem has wider social implications too; whether it is through grade shaming or bullying, those at both ends of rankings can be adversely psychologically affected by the consequences. Some argue that the entire utility of marking is for students to get greater perspective on their progress and level relative to expectations and to others; it is therefore not publishing marks but the stress and emphasis on assessment and grading in general that is at the root of the growing mental health crisis in education. It is also very common that when results are not publicised, many students, and parents, choose to share their marks in order to have a benchmark for what their achievements mean.
There is, however, a critical difference between choosing to disclose results and having them automatically published to peers. Associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director for child and adolescent psychiatry training, Dr. Gene Beresin, claims that mandatory grade sharing increases the pressure on children, and the harm it causes to some can be far more detrimental than the potential benefits to others. She says a similar argument is taking place around peer marking. While there is much to gain from reading others’ work as well as a great deal to be learned on giving and receiving criticism, seeing their interpretation, arguments and mistakes, many students feel intimidated and embarrassed by their classmates seeing and giving opinions on their assignments. Any invasive grade sharing opens children up to teasing, particularly at younger age groups.
The most important part of education is for students, of all ages, need to find a love of learning and confidence in their work and ability. As for many students this is fundamentally undermined by grade sharing, educators and institutions should tread carefully.