Reading Analysis- Wolff

The idea of grades has always been a source of controversy in academic settings. Some believe that a grade does not truly tell what a student has learned, but on the other hand it would be difficult to evaluate without some degree of grading. I liked the way Wolff broke down grading into criticism,evaluation, and ranking. He defined criticism as "the analysis of a product or performance for the purpose of identifying and correcting its faults and reinforcing its excellences." He explained the importance of criticism for the learner. I agreed with his thoughts on this, especially when he said "Painful as criticism is, even from those one loves best or respects most, there is no other way to learn." Constructive criticism is the best way to learn from ones mistakes. I belive that teachers who do not just mark a problem wrong, but include an explanation, are the teachers who are trying to help there students improve their work.
The next part was evaluation. Although I realize this is necessary in most cases, I also think it sometimes reward those who do not try but still succeed, over those who are hard workers, but do not always get it completely right. For example, I always made excellent grades in high school and was a member of almost every club and activity at my high school. Even though I did well in`school, I did not do that great on the SAT. I had a friend who did not make great grades and was not involved. She never really asserted herself or tried very hard in school. She made an unbelievable score on her SAT. We both got into the University of Georgia or senior years. She got in because of one good grade on a test, and barely got in because of one bad grade on a test. I understand that schools have so many applicants to weed out in the acceptance process, but in my mind that type of evaluation does not seem 100% fair.
The last part he talk about is ranking. Wolff talks about the problems in this method. He uses the example of a class that has twenty students. Two students may be ranked very closely together, but in reality their performance levels can be so close it is hard to distinguish between them, or so enormous that there is no way their rankings should be so close.
I enjoyed reading this article and liked the way Wolff broke down the different parts of grading. Although it is hard to be an advocate for grades, I do understand that some sort of grading is necessary. It motivates many to work harder and try to achieve more. I also hate that a hard worker can be seen as a failure if they do not make an exceptional grade. I think it is very important to not be cut and dry with grading, but take several things into consideration before giving a grade.