Disregard Grades!

Grades are the wrong metric to measure student success. 

I’ve had many meetings with parents of a kid doing poorly who say to me  “I’ve told him, I expect all A’s and B’s,” when in fact, an A or B might be unattainable for that student, leading that child to despair. But I’ve also known many kids making “all A’s and B’s,” without effort, who could be much better students.

Grades are best understood as “carrots” to encourage effort. Effort is the metric that matters!

One of my sons cruised his way through the first two years of high school, doing very little work but making good grades, despite my constant harping on him to work harder. But at the beginning of his junior year, I was hired as a new head of school, we moved and he enrolled at that school.  A few months later, his Pre-Calculus teacher asked to meet with me before first quarter grades were published. She was worried about how her new “boss” would react—my son had  a “D” in her class. I smiled at her, stood up, and shook her hand. “Thank you,” I said. You’re doing my son a great favor.” My son was shell-shocked, but he began to become a more serious student, frequently leaving the house at 6:30 a.m. to get in 30 minutes of Math tutoring before school started. My wife and I would high five each other as he left, pleased that our son was showing signs of growing up! We believe that  “D” was the trigger that helped him get into Notre Dame when he applied the following year. 

Grades in themselves are less important than we think! Because they’re so inflated nationally, and because they vary so much between schools, colleges can’t trust them. Instead, they focus on ACT/SAT scores, which helps them compare “apples to apples.”  The best way to improve ACT scores? Take tough classes and work hard in them.  Over time—there’s no quick fix here—the ACT scores will slowly creep up. 

“Strength of schedule” matters for the competitive colleges, also. If a kid “Cadillacs” through his career with easier classes, they won’t want him or her! Capable students should “dive in” to Advanced Placement courses, taking 6-8 of them during high school. 

Parents often worry: “But if he takes the A.P. course it might hurt his GPA.” I tell them , “If your child can make a B with hard work, he or she should  take it. “ They look at me funny: “A  B?” “Yep,” I say. “ Colleges prefer a B in an A.P. course over an easy A in something else. And the A.P. course should help with the ACT, too.”

On the other end—for students who struggle—my advice to parents is straightforward: “Disregard grades.” Yes! Disregard them. Instead, I tell them they expect 60-90 minutes of homework each night from their child, and that if asked, his teachers will say he’s “working hard.” If so, I recommend they take their child to dinner to celebrate his  “A+” in effort and to tell him how proud they are! 

Effort is what matters! The grades will take care of themselves.