English Department: Suggestions for Improvement

I am not averse to receiving a bad grade. After all, my work is—on occasion—so outright dreadful that it warrants an equally dreadful mark. However, what irks me is that works of equal caliber may receive wholly different grades from different teachers. At the Academy, where teachers are justly accorded a great deal of autonomy, a lack of consistency has become an issue. This issue is particularly prevalent in the English Department.

There’s a common practice amongst students of catering to certain teachers’ likings. Students will reinvent their entire writing styles to fit the demands of their instructor. Of course, teachers are within their right to have preferences. After all, writing is inherently subjective. However, I find it ironic that, in a subject where students are encouraged to explore their identity and lived experiences, they feel the need to change themselves to receive higher grades.

Instead of building on previously developed skills, instructors sometimes expect students to fit into a new mold of “good writing.” To mitigate this issue, the English Department should attempt to craft a general rubric for each type of writing that is commonly utilized—poetry, narrative, analysis and the like. Teachers would then be able to make modifications to this rubric as needed. This system would leave enough flexibility for teachers to exercise their professional discretion while providing the student body with some semblance of uniformity.

Now, there’s also the problem of standardizing grade distribution. In some teachers’ classrooms, nearly half the class may attain a grade that another may award to only one student. I know that different classes have students at different stages in the learning process, but I would encourage the English Department to implement a general distribution curve that offers teachers a reference to draw from. Naturally, I’m not asking the Department to enforce rigid adherence in every single classroom. Still, I feel that the sheer existence of a model curve would allow for more equity in grading across the board.

I would also encourage the Department to look into different teachers’ criteria for grades. There are some instructors that follow strict numerical grades. Meanwhile, others offer a letter grade based solely on their observations. Others do not provide grades until the end of the term. The diversity in grading styles makes navigating the English Department confusing for many students, particularly when terms are only ten weeks. I feel as though I’ve been drowning in a sea of numbers that somehow convert into letter grades on my LionLinks page. The moment I come to understand a teacher’s grading system, I am whisked off into another’s classroom.

Furthermore, one disparity in grades is the amount that Harkness factors into a final evaluation. To some teachers, Harkness is a core determinant in a student’s final score. To others, it barely factors in at all. As Harkness discussion illustrates the degree to which a student understands a text, I feel that its importance should not be lost in any classroom. Hence, I hope that the English Department encourages teachers to place more emphasis on Harkness in the final student evaluation. Perhaps the Department would go so far as to craft a sample weighting scheme that teachers could use, if they elected to, as a reference in breaking down their own evaluations.

Lastly, while the Department offers a wide array of texts for analysis, certain classics are eschewed in favor of more modern works. English teachers draw from different sources. However, students should still be exposed to works that have reshaped the landscape of the English language. I would urge the English Department to consider making more texts on their book lists mandatory, exposing students to more readings that they may need to draw from in their collegiate studies.

I feel strongly that the English Department should reconsider some of its practices. Yet, I do appreciate the diversity of perspectives that English offers. From each of my instructors this year, I’ve gleaned skills and strategies that have changed my approach to writing and discussion. I’ve learned to analyze literature through a more critical lens. Still, I wonder how my experiences would have differed had I been assigned a different slate of teachers. 

I understand that the Academy cannot fully normalize the student experience, but I feel that—in areas where they can—they aren’t doing enough. The suggestions I have do not strip teachers of their ability to run their own classrooms. Instead, they offer a series of references that may aid teachers should they choose to use them. The last thing I want is to hamper teachers in their efforts to teach effectively; all I want is for students to learn more effectively. As I see it, that comes from cohesion, not confusion.