Assessment Is Not Grading

A grade is a value a teacher subjectively places on a student's work. No matter how objective a teacher tries to be, there is subjectivity in the substance, style, and amount of questions asked, the point value of each question, the resources provided for students, and the grading rigor. A graded assignment is NOT an assessment, although those two words are often used synonymously. 

Assessment comes from the Latin root word assidere, which means "to sit beside." Assessment is a form of education, and grading is a form of schooling. Schooling is the formal process of delivering information on a curriculum map, grading that work, deciding on the quality of that work (often skewed more by the quantity of work), and ultimately allowing a child or young adult to progress toward a diploma. Education is learning, which happens from the moment we are born. It happens in our classes, on the athletic fields or dramatic stages, on playgrounds, around dinner tables, and on internet videos.

Assessment allows teachers and students to understand their progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, and adjust while learning. Assessment focuses on guiding students' journeys toward becoming more educated. Grading and schooling can often impede a student's natural desire to learn. The formalization of the writing process, forced reading of material that lacks importance in a modern age, cookie-cutter science labs without exploration, and endless math problems regardless of a student's ability promote compliance to make it through a day, but not a  desire to be a life long learner.