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Should Students Be Graded on Character?

Posted October 3, 2011 2:46 PM by Mark Cutler

Over the past few years at Ascendant, while we have worked with education organizations such as the Rochester (NY), Atlanta, Ossining (NY), and Alexandria (VA) public school systems; the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE); and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the performance measurement conversation inevitably turns to how best to measure student progress.

The common solutions tossed about include sticking to the traditional grading system, focusing on standardized test scores, tracking graduation rates or even following up with students several years after their cohort graduates to see what they are doing. One new suggestion I hadn't heard until I read about it in the September 18, 2011, issue of The New York Times Magazine is to measure them on character because, as Paul Tough says in his article "The Character Test," character may have as much to do with our children's success as grades.

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