Manitoba is right to defend percentage grades

Manitoba stands firm on percentage grades. Confusing lingo like “progressing” and “emerging” fails students and families

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Percentages have been a staple on Manitoba report cards for many years. The former NDP government did the right thing when it introduced a provincial report card in 2012 that mandated percentage marks for all Grade 7 to 12 students.

Percentages are easily understood by parents, students, post-secondary institutions and employers. Virtually everyone knows the difference between a mark of 40 and a mark of 95. The numbers say a lot, and no further explanation is needed.

Percentages also allow for a wide range of performance. By using a 0–100 scale, teachers can accurately report that some levels of academic excellence are higher than others. For example, while 99 per cent and 91 per cent are both good grades, there’s no question that 99 per cent is better. Report cards should reflect this subtle difference.

In addition, percentages are a useful motivator. While not everyone is motivated by grades, the reality is that grades are an important accountability tool for most students. Otherwise, there would be no difference between auditing a course and taking the same course for credit.

Unfortunately, some school administrators want to get rid of traditional grades. For example, in 2023, a high school in the Louis Riel School Division replaced percentages with descriptive terms such as emerging, progressing, applying and mastering. This decision was influenced by the so-called “ungrading” movement, where teachers are encouraged to abandon traditional grades.

However, it doesn’t take long to discern that terms such as emerging and progressing communicate the same information as percentage marks, albeit in a much less reliable and meaningful form. The challenge is that students and parents are stuck trying to decipher what these new phrases mean. Instead of getting a mark that everyone understands, unnecessary effort is spent trying to interpret the new lingo.

Not surprisingly, other school jurisdictions have gone in this direction, inevitably with disastrous results. For example, British Columbia recently replaced letter marks with the terms emerging, developing, proficient and extending for Kindergarten to Grade 9 students in public schools. Unsurprisingly, these new terms are so confusing that a recent survey found that more than 60 per cent of B.C. parents could not correctly define them.

The purpose of school report cards is to communicate information about how students are doing. If parents must use a translator to figure out what the marks on a report card mean, then we have lost sight of why we have report cards in the first place.

Fortunately, the Manitoba government is cracking down on the schools that are not using percentages. In a recent memo to the Louis Riel School Division, Deputy Minister of Education Brian O’Leary wrote that “all Grade 9 to 12 report cards must include a percentage grade in all reporting periods, including midterm reports.” This clarification is important, and it provides some reassurance that Manitoba won’t adopt British Columbia’s disastrous approach to report cards.

Incidentally, if school administrators and classroom teachers feel it is important to provide descriptive feedback, they are certainly free to include comments alongside the standard percentage grade. If that additional feedback is helpful, parents and students will appreciate the effort the teacher has made.

Manitoba is doing the right thing by keeping percentages on report cards. Clear and understandable report cards are essential for all students and their parents.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.