EDITORIAL: Teachers aren’t big fans of ‘equitable grading’ fad

The dangerous progressive education fad of “equitable grading” infiltrated the Clark County School District a few years back. Now, a nationwide survey reveals — to little surprise — that many educators forced to dumb-down their standards aren’t big fans of the reform.

The leftist obsession with identity politics was the impetus for many school districts across the country to overhaul traditional grading schedules in the name of “equity.” This was supposed to create more pleasing outcomes even if it actually served as a vehicle to disguise academic dysfunction. Among the reforms: unlimited test retakes, no penalties for missing homework deadlines, no grades for class participation, no penalties for missing class and a minimum score on any assignment of 50 rather than zero.

Clark County adopted many of the proposals in 2021, including the so-called minimum “F,” under which students get credit for work they never performed.

Four years later, district officials have eased off on some of the reforms after teachers complained that many students were — shocker! — gaming the system to avoid work in an effort to skate toward graduation. Turns out these local concerns are mimicked across the country in districts that also adopted these anti-accountability measures.

In a recent survey by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, researchers found that a majority of teachers are “skeptical” of most such reforms, particularly the minimum “F.” Only test retakes were favored by a slim majority of those surveyed. The exercise also revealed that at least half the districts in the country have pushed at least one “equitable” grading reform.

“Turns out, teachers don’t like it when the powers that be take a sledgehammer to their few sources of leverage over student motivation and effort. Nor do they like giving students grades they don’t deserve,” the researchers noted, later adding, “The wholly indefensible arguments that lurk beneath the recent push for ‘equitable’ grading, meanwhile, represent little more than a return to the ‘soft bigotry of low expectations.’ ”

Interviews with classroom teachers were illuminating.

“Equity grading,” one educator said, “is not leveling the playing field. … It is simply lowering standards so that school districts look like they are meeting kids where they are, when in fact they are hiding their failures behind ‘equitable’ policies.” Another got to the crux of the matter: “Forcing teachers to give students half-credit on assignments that have not been completed and/or turned in is a disservice to students.”

Indeed, lowering standards and expectations represents feel-good blather gussied up as compassion. The losers are the kids. Most of these policies — the minimum “F” in particular — should be shelved, in Clark County and elsewhere.