A hypothetical student saying “I have an A in all my classes” would be trying to say a lot about how much they know, their work ethic, and their abilities. To them, not much else would need to be said. When grades were an invented, that was how it worked.

Things have gotten more complicated over the two+ centuries since then. Talking about grades is like unloading a bin full of tangled cords. Tangled and complex is an understatement.

Better would be for students to grow a portfolio of their own. We have the technology to make them in 10 different ways and infinitely customizable. Even this website can grow a student portfolio (and help students learn digital citizenship someday!). Students could learn SO many lessons as they watch their body of work grow.

The honest answer to that hypothetical student is complicated. The world has changed (a lot… and a lot again), and that ‘A’ doesn’t mean what it used to mean.

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