Colleges are going gradeless

Plus: A principal loses her job after a controversial arts lesson

View this email online April 2, 2023 This week, colleges reconsider grading, a school shooting in Nashville and Renaissance art ruffles feathers in Florida. Plus: Broadcasting admissions decisions on Tik-Tok.   Photographer/Source Happy Sunday, Grades. For a lot of kids they start in the first years of elementary school, but I had a soft introduction to them in sixth grade and they didn’t really count until seventh. And that’s when I recall the stress ratcheting up. Grades started to matter more to me than the learning: They become a marker of your intelligence, your likelihood of success in life, your character even. They also felt like another way of telling the smart kids, “You’re special, have a cookie.”  OK, I’m clearly a little biased here, and grading certainly has its merits (and demerits). But some colleges are leaving grades behind and opting for other approaches to evaluating learning, growth and performance.  Concerns about student mental health, students dropping out and grading bias are among the reasons institutions cite for leaving the A-F model behind. Our story about the “un-grading” movement, via The Hechinger Report, raises the question of whether a one-size-fits-all approach is really the best colleges can do for students. It’s worth a pass.  Cheers,   -Abē — Abē Levine, Intern, NPR Ed Read More Newsletter continues after sponsor message On to education news this week... A mass shooting at a Nashville school leaves a community in shock  Six people — including three children — were killed in a shooting at Covenant School, a private elementary school in Nashville's Green Hills neighborhood on Monday. The suspected attacker, a former student, was killed by police within minutes of the first call of an active shooter. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 130 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year.  — Joe Hernandez, Reporter, NPR  A dismissed Tallahassee principal gets an invitation to Italy Every year, sixth-grade students at Tallahassee Classical School have been taught and shown a picture of Michelangelo's "David" statue, but this month, things went awry — sparking an apology letter to parents, an emergency school board meeting and a principal's resignation. Now, the mayor of Florence has invited that former principal to Italy to be recognized for teaching art. — Julianna Kim, Reporter, NPR Teens share their college admissions reactions on Tik-Tok New Yorker writer Jay Caspian Kang spoke to All Things Considered about why so many young people are making college decision reaction videos and what the videos say about the admissions process.  And now, for some Math Madness… in March The striving, the camaraderie, the exaltation of March Madness – we’re used to seeing all that in college basketball. But recently that spirit carried over to a math lesson in Jacksonville, Fla. Here’s that moment. 💪 A quick flex… We won a Gracie!🥇 This week, our series about getting a college degree in prison won an award from the Alliance for Women in Media. If you missed it, you can catch the stories here. The series, reported by Elissa Nadworny, produced by Lauren Migaki and edited by Steve Drummond, took two years and many trips to a prison in Norco, Calif., to report. This type of in-depth reporting is made possible thanks to public radio supporters like you. Not a donor yet? Please make a gift today. Until next week, reach for the stars ed-heads. 👩‍🚀 Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: npred@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy