Nongraded Primary Education

Nongraded Primary Education. I believe strongly in handing out grades to elementary school students. Even if they don't care, often the parent does! And this helps create more support for teachers at home. This essay looks at the idea of not handing out grades at the primary level.



From the site:



In the mid-1800s, the revolutionary idea of mass public education created the need for an efficient, economical system capable of handling large numbers of students. Graded education--the practice of classifying and dividing students by age--spread rapidly throughout the United States and has remained the standard until the present (Goodlad and Anderson 1987). In the 1990s, educators and citizens are reevaluating their schools and proposing reforms to meet the needs of diverse social and economic groups. Nongraded primary education is a key component of many reform proposals, including the Kentucky Educational Reform Act and the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century.



Many experimental nongraded programs tried in the sixties and early seventies failed due to inadequate understanding, lack of administrative and community support, and poorly planned implementation. Today's nongraded model is supported by additional decades of research and refined by the study of successful programs.