Our Grading System
Parents sometimes ask about our grading system, more particularly why we do not routinely evaluate student learning on a scale of high to low with intermediate values – such as the traditional A, B, C, D, E system.

We all understand the convenience of summarizing current progress toward a goal as some intermediate or fractional state.  For example, a chef might describe a meal preparation as “half done”, a mason can say the house walls are 75% complete, or a teacher can report that a student has earned a 90% grade for the semester.  Expressing the “big” or general picture works well in providing an overall estimate of progress on a project or performance when judged from a distance and for extended time periods.  We must also consider that the customer, when accepting the meal, should expect to receive all of the correct ingredients and proper preparations.  The new home buyer expects the building inspector to assure every brick is in the wall and that there are not voids.  Just as the ingredients and steps of preparation for a meal or bricks in a wall are individual, indivisible, and essential elements, each requiring definition, processing, and confirmation, so are the components of a thorough education.  With this view, the Academy gives considerable attention to completely specifying, teaching, and monitoring the learning process.  Each curriculum has been spelled out into many individual knowledge and skill elements and our teachers focus on teaching and testing for completed learning of every component.  Each component is judged as mastered or not, yes or no, is that an “A” type performance or not.

When a student or parent sees a weekly evaluation that gives credit only for mastery on a particular educational component, it may seem strict, but it is a reflection of a thorough and accurate quality assurance system.  We must remember that this grade is only for a very small portion of the overall subject.  In most schools, a parent is not informed about these small steps in the learning process, but only to general performance trends that began weeks and months ago.

There are important benefits of this system of evaluation.  Everyone knows exactly and immediately what is learned and what is in need of further improvement.  Of course, stepping back a little and viewing performance on a group of objectives that make up a curriculum of mathematics, or social studies, taught over months, it is helpful to use traditional descriptions, and we do this by providing percentage scores on quarterly and semester reports.