Will the notes be deleted? Specialists reject this hypothesis.Image: watson
The rating system has long animated debates in Switzerland. Lucerne has put a piece back in the machine by announcing the elimination of evaluations for the start of the 2025 school year. A solution which is far from convincing the specialists.
05/20/2024, 6:45 p.m.05/20/2024, 10:39 p.m.
This is the eternal debate that rages in educational and political circles. Should we stop grading students in Switzerland? The hot topic even extended to Economiesuisse and the Employers’ Union. The two right-wing entities first spoke out through a report published in February this year, exploring the idea of overhauling the current system.
“School report cards do not provide enough relevant information and are not comparable”
Following this publication, the debate was so lively that the Swiss employers’ organization had to point out that it was “against the removal of grades” in a text dated April 18.
This spring, the city of Lucerne, although conservative in its habits, took the plunge by announcing a removal of grades, wrote the Tages Anzeiger. The German-speaking daily reports that from summer 2025, the city’s 19 primary schools will introduce the “evaluation framework concept”. The details of this remain unclear for the moment.
This Lucerne change inevitably revives the debate in the rest of Switzerland. So, is giving up grades in school really a good idea? Interviewed by us, Raphaël Pasquini, associate professor at HEP Vaud, explains:
“It depends: the problem is less the note than the way it is constructed. When the grade is based on elements that are not always related to what has been learned, when it is developed by comparing students’ scores or using standardized scales, it communicates nothing interesting apart from a number. This is unfortunately often the case. On the other hand, if it is based on explicit criteria, with scales consistent with the teaching provided, it makes it possible to show what has been successful and what still needs to be worked on. It then becomes a clear and coherent communication tool.”
The teachers interviewed highlight the problems encountered during assessments spread over the year. “Some students are academics and manage to obtain an advantageous report card,” informs a teacher, “while on the other hand, some students have more difficulty, but turn out to be very gifted in another branch.”
The president of the Syndicat des Enseignants romands (SER), David Rey, indicates that “the theme of notes is an old sea serpent which regularly returns with attempts at adaptation”.
“In the end, it (ed: the system) does not really evolve because it is well anchored and accepted by the majority of actors”
David Rey
He recognizes, however, that the process requires “adaptations in order to correspond to current needs as well as the idea of reducing the stress factor as best as possible.”
“The formula of annualization (ed: a single mark is awarded at the end of the year, the evaluations carried out in class have only an indicative value) of the marks is one of the proposed avenues which would make it possible in particular to reduce the stress factor and better verify the development of skills without having to deal with sometimes absurd calendar requirements.”
David Rey
These timetable requirements exist, for example, for French and Maths. Between 8 and 12 notes must be compiled over the year just for these two branches. According to a Vaudois teacher interviewed:
“It’s time consuming and it’s simply a waste of time”
A Vaudois teacher
“A school without grades will not free up time for teachers. Quite the contrary,” says David Rey. In his eyes, individualizing the analysis of results may well complicate and increase the evaluation task for teachers.
“To think that one can teach, educate and furthermore evaluate individually is simply not possible in the current system. This would require reducing numbers or opting for a co-teaching system, for example.”
David Rey
Questioned on this subject, the Secretary General of the Vaud Parents’ Association (APE Vaud), Christine Müller, claims to have campaigned for a reduction in evaluations.
“Parents put a lot of pressure on grades. In people’s minds, you have to be the best to have a chance of succeeding. It’s an extension of our very competitive company.”
Christine Muller
Christine Müller also regrets “the hyperfocus that is sometimes made on grades and which can lead to doubt about the future of children, perhaps even more so for those with special needs. I personally experienced it with my child during his school career. It was very difficult, but now he is very comfortable in his shoes, he is flourishing and succeeding in his learning.
“Sometimes the grades don’t correspond to reality. It does not always measure the real acquisition of skills in the long term.
Christine Muller
However, abandoning grades would not be the cure for all the ills of the educational environment, affirms Raphaël Pasquini of the HEP:
“All the reforms that removed them (ed: notes) on a large scale have failed. In addition, research shows that abandoning grades does not only have benefits: the stress of certain students increases, communication with parents becomes more complicated, some teachers no longer know how to judge students’ learning.
Raphael Pasquini
The specialist says that introducing alternatives to notes, for example colors or signs, would not solve the problem. “Teachers would proceed in the same way as with numerical grades.”
Faced with resistance from educational circles, the example of Lucerne will be a good barometer: “It will be interesting, it’s a life-size experience,” says Christine Müller, intrigued.
On the side of the teachers’ union, David Rey qualifies:
“In my opinion, the process put in place by the City of Lucerne does not provide much information. We don’t even know exactly how this will be integrated”
David Rey
The end of homework rather than giving up grades?
In order to remedy the concerns of certain students, Christine Müller puts forward another idea which is currently animating the educational debate: the pure and simple end of homework. The Secretary General of the APE Vaud develops:
“Homework should be prepared in class and be able to be completed independently by the child. But this is often not the case and parents must therefore help their child. However, some can and others cannot. This creates a lot of inequalities.”
Christine Müller recalls: “Homework and tests are often the only way for parents to see what their child is doing at school. There are children who don’t say much about what’s going on in their class.”
