Does anyone give grades to their elementary students?

[JumpyTheFrog]

If you give grades in one or more subjects for your elementary students what is your approach? I have started giving my 3rd grader a math grade. Having him take tests and quizzes with minimal help from me is teaching him to work more carefully. I started a month ago and at first he protested, but now he's asking for extra tests and quizzes to try to bring his grade up. I realize many people are against giving grades at this age, but for my child at this age and in this subject, it seems to be helping.

 

Now I'm wondering when I should consider giving grades in a second subject and what subject it should be. History and science are all me reading to him (which he loves), so I don't see the point of grading them. His writing and handwriting need a lot of work and I don't want to discourage him in those. I was thinking spelling might work, if I give him a weekly spelling list and then give him a spelling test at the end of the week on those words. I'm not currently using the weekly spelling list approach, but it wouldn't be hard to do. (Currently I just enter spelling words into Anki, a spaced repetition system, and let the program schedule them for me.)

 

 

[hjffkj]

I give grades to my nephew ,3rd grade, in spelling but he only takes a test once I feel like he's mastered the spelling rule. We don't do word lists.  We work rule by rule and spend however long it takes of him copying a few words with that rule and then me dictating them.  The only reason I give a test or grade is to help him build confidence in his learning ability.  He was in public school before this year and has always been behind so low grades and lots of correction were his norm.  It tore at his self esteem.  Now the grades are purely to help him realize that he can learn and progress.

 

He also gets grades on math fact sheets because he asks for them.  He wants to see his progress with those.  Nothing else is graded though. 

[Orthodox6]

I did for math and spelling, only.  These were purely objective subjects, and grades are not evil ogres.  I did not subscribe to the viewpoint that "mastery to the point of making A's, only" was beneficial.

 

 

[JumpyTheFrog]

I did not subscribe to the viewpoint that "mastery to the point of making A's, only" was beneficial.

 

Would you mind elaborating on this?

[Orthodox6]

 

Would you mind elaborating on this?[/quote

 

There are homeschool teachers who will not accept a grade less than an "A". They require the student to retake an exam, or to redo an assignment, as many times as are necessary for an "A" grade to be assigned. They consider this "mastery learnng."

 

I can't go for that disservice to the student.

 

I think that an academician considers "mastery learning" to be something else. I really have, though, read of moms who adhere to the practice that I described.

[rocassie]

Spelling and math have quizzes/tests.  DD has to complete them on her own (I facilitate but don't offer any hints), I check them over, give her what she got correct over total number of points, and then we review/revisit those areas that she struggled.  I do not keep a record of the score anywhere other than on the actual paper.

[Zoo Keeper]

Starting around 2nd grade, we do a weekly spelling test.  I do give percentage grade, not just number wrong.  Incorrect words are written out 5-10 times correctly.  If they really bomb the test, I make them do the whole list for a second week; no shaming or fussing, just a "you weren't ready for this test yet and need more time" type of comment.  Those who simply didn't understand the spelling rule/pattern are happy to have more time to work on it.  Those who were just being lazy with their studying are v e r y bored with the same list for a second week and generally are happy to work harder this time around and get it done. 

 

Around 4th grade I add in math tests at the end of each section/chapter.  This is also a percentage grade, and I don't require perfection.  Just honest effort.  I go over mistakes with them after the test, to increase understanding of concepts.  I check math homework daily, so I am usually aware if the child is ready (concept-wise) for the test.  The test is really more to teach them to be accurate and neat in their work, and complete an assignment QUIETLY without being able to ask any questions or hop up to see what that noise was in the living room... :P  Since I do standardized testing every other year, I do want them to have practice in the skill of test taking. 

 

I keep an average of the grades in my notes; I don't worry about sharing it with the kids (unless they really, really, wanted to know).  I have a portfolio evaluation done every other year, and this tiny bit of "standard  bookkeeping" seems to go over very well with the evaluator (state certified teacher).  Easy hoop to jump through... :001_rolleyes: 

[RootAnn]

I give grades for the subjects that easily lend themselves to it. Our math program already has tests/quizzes. Our spelling program has lists that we quiz/test on. The foreign language program(s) we use have tests/quizzes and/or daily work that is gradable. Our grammar program has daily work, review summaries, and tests that are easily gradable.

 

In OP's case, I wouldn't necessarily add in tests/quizzes just for the sake of giving a grade. You have plenty of time to add in more 'grading opportunities' in future years. I'd leave it at math for now, FWIW. 

 

Is it that you feel he will try harder if you give him a grade? 

[Roadrunner]

No, but if my kids get everything right on their spelling tests, they give themselves grades. You can find lots of A+! in big red ink. :)

[Syllieann]

My kid has anxiety issues, and multiple family members with anxiety disorders, so I am very consciously working on taking teeny tiny steps toward grades. He also freaks out when he makes mistakes; we are working on coping strategies. Anyway...our math has tests, which I grade, and write a percentage, but I don't keep a running average. When the test is over, it is gone. For spelling, he gets to pick out a sticker if he gets 100%, but I don't write a grade. Anything missed gets written 3-5x and retested the next day. My plan is to start grading the spelling soon. When he can cope with making mistakes I will start keeping quarterly averages for one subject, probably math.

[phathui5]

Not really. I grade tests and quizzes, but then they disappear into the abyss.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Is it that you feel he will try harder if you give him a grade? 

 

I started out with grading the pages he does in his Spectrum Test Prep book. I've had him do a few pages every week since about the beginning of second grade and somewhere along the line, he began asking me to grade them. I do, but I don't keep track of the grade. We have to test yearly in my state and doing the test prep on a regular basis only takes about twenty minutes per week, but gives him a lot more confidence. He's one of those spirited kids who easily freaks out about new things, so all the practice is important in helping him understand how to stay calm on the actual yearly test. (And no, he doesn't have anxiety or anything, he's just one of those kids who need some extra time to get used to new ideas. If I had him take a standardized test without the regular practice, he'd totally freak out, just like he does if I switch what I use to brush his teeth.)

 

Anyway, as far as math, we use a mixture of Singapore and Math Mammoth, so I've been giving him MM tests from a grade behind the level he's working on. Again, this is to help him learn to check his work to see if the answer is reasonable and to learn to work without asking for help right away. I am seeing some benefits already. 

 

One minor reason for giving a grade is that he competes in gymnastics. At the end of the season, at the state meet, they give out academic all-star awards to people with a GPA above a certain amount. They didn't do it for second graders, but now that he's in third grade, he is eligible. I wanted to have a grade to list so he could apply. Another home schooled teammate, who was in fifth grade last year, didn't have any grades, so his mom just had to make one up. This isn't the main reason for me, but I do feel more comfortable having a GPA for him, even if it's based on just one subject.

[In2why]

I give grades for much the same reason. My kiddo likes when he scores well and tries harder when he gets a grade. It helps him stay focused. We don't do anything with the grades though. They aren't recorded anywhere except on the paper. We grade for math and spelling but I am also beginning to use a rubric for writing as well. He keeps the rubric and I attach it to his writing so he knows the expectation, and where he excelled and where I feel he needs work. Before he would struggle to understand the rough draft and editing process.

[EndOfOrdinary]

We started with grammar tests in third grade. Every ten days there was a test which just took a few problems from daily work. They ever really meant anything. Though he loved it when he got 100 %. It was more to get over making mistakes as others have mentioned. It also eased into the idea that tests and grades are going to happen.

 

We added math tests last year in fourth grade. We did one Latin test as well, but I decided to stop after just the one. The math tests are a bit harder and require that he calm himself down and not panic if he perceives a question as hard. It has helped immensely! If it becomes obvious that it was a panic moment, not based on Ds not knowing how to do the problem or a silly computation error, then we take a fifteen minute break and he gets to come back to the problem. He has finally mastered "skip it and move on." Again, the test scores do not mean anything. No grades are required until high school credit. It is just practice and work on anxiety.

 

Chemistry and foreign language testing began this year. At this point Ds understands how to use a study guide and is getting better at openly declaring, "I do not know this. I need to study _______ more." I have not decided about whether the Spanish or Latin grades are going to count. I do not think they will, but I am keeping records just in case.

 

Mainly, I want my son to be comfortable in the testing atmosphere. We are very relaxed with all those social proprieties. It is important to me that he can have a really direct understanding of what a test is and how he is expected to behave for one. That does not happen overnight and I vastly underestimated just how much general testing knowledge I gained in public school.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Yeah, the other thing with math is that it can be easy to overestimate how much they can do on their own since most of us are sitting there with them offereing help as needed. Giving him tests and quizzes is helping me see which areas he's not as good at as I thought because he was relying on my help more than I realized.

 

It was actually DH's idea to start giving him math tests. Once, about five or six years ago, we heard about a pair of sisters in high school who went somewhere to take some sort of test. I don't know if it was in a co-op or if it was something else. In any case, their parents told us the girls came home crying about how hard it was. It sounded like both of them emotionally broke down because they weren't used to being tested. DH and and I think it's better to slowly ease into the grading thing over several years than to wait until they can longer be avoided in high school or college and hope they can adjust quickly.

[Tanikit]

I have my child write a test at the end of the year - it is given to schools here as an independent test of all student's performance and they give out certificates. This is because regulations here regarding homeschooling are very lax and I need to be able to prove that my child can do what is expected if I were to send her back to school. My DD also likes taking tests and has done Math Olympiads too - they offer some here for children as young as kindergarten. She wrote Math, English, a second language and two life skills papers and that is enough grades for her.

[TranquilMind]

If you give grades in one or more subjects for your elementary students what is your approach? I have started giving my 3rd grader a math grade. Having him take tests and quizzes with minimal help from me is teaching him to work more carefully. I started a month ago and at first he protested, but now he's asking for extra tests and quizzes to try to bring his grade up. I realize many people are against giving grades at this age, but for my child at this age and in this subject, it seems to be helping.

 

Now I'm wondering when I should consider giving grades in a second subject and what subject it should be. History and science are all me reading to him (which he loves), so I don't see the point of grading them. His writing and handwriting need a lot of work and I don't want to discourage him in those. I was thinking spelling might work, if I give him a weekly spelling list and then give him a spelling test at the end of the week on those words. I'm not currently using the weekly spelling list approach, but it wouldn't be hard to do. (Currently I just enter spelling words into Anki, a spaced repetition system, and let the program schedule them for me.)

I never did.  I did do a national test every year from 2nd grade on, just so my perceptions very objectively verified...and they were.  Funny how some of that doesn't change a whole lot either.   Amazing strengths show up early.  Areas of lesser strength show up early. 

[MotherOfBoys]

I just had to explain grades to my son for the first time today. I think we are going to start grading math. He was intentionally leaving problems blank because "the answer didn't come easy enough" he said. I gave him scrap paper to write out the problem but he said he didn't want to. GRRRRR! I explained it would be wrong then and he just looked at me blankly. Like why should he care. It was MM3 tests because we've been doing Beast 3 and it's gone so smoothly that I wanted the confirmation he retained it before our week off, next week. If he's not retaining then I need to rethink what we are doing. The test questions I chose (the ones I clearly marked with a highlighter as the ones he has to do) covered only topics we went over in Beast A and B. I wasn't expecting perfect but I wanted a good effort! He's taking a nap now and was told to finish it after.

[Farrar]

 

Would you mind elaborating on this?[/quote

 

There are homeschool teachers who will not accept a grade less than an "A". They require the student to retake an exam, or to redo an assignment, as many times as are necessary for an "A" grade to be assigned. They consider this "mastery learnng."

 

I can't go for that disservice to the student.

 

I think that an academician considers "mastery learning" to be something else. I really have, though, read of moms who adhere to the practice that I described.

 

I think it does kids a much greater disservice when you say, well, that was C level work. Now let's move on to something else.

 

I can recognize the need to give a grade that reflects the level of work as first performed later on. But in elementary school? I can't imagine how this is doing a disservice to a child to make them work to the point where they have "aced" their math facts, basic spelling, etc.

 

But I don't believe in grades for this level, so I don't really belong in the conversation, I guess.

[EndOfOrdinary]

I think it does kids a much greater disservice when you say, well, that was C level work. Now let's move on to something else.

 

I can recognize the need to give a grade that reflects the level of work as first performed later on. But in elementary school? I can't imagine how this is doing a disservice to a child to make them work to the point where they have "aced" their math facts, basic spelling, etc.

 

But I don't believe in grades for this level, so I don't really belong in the conversation, I guess.

 

I don't know if I am using grades the way everyone else is, since they do not count for anything.  They are written on the top of the paper as more of a check in with my son.  It is more of a measure of "are you here yet?"  or " This is what I think you know by now."  It was a way to sort of create a third party mediary (the test) to be a wake up call to either my son or I.

 

I think many families might have a different version of this.

[Farrar]

I don't know if I am using grades the way everyone else is, since they do not count for anything.  They are written on the top of the paper as more of a check in with my son.  It is more of a measure of "are you here yet?"  or " This is what I think you know by now."  It was a way to sort of create a third party mediary (the test) to be a wake up call to either my son or I.

 

I think many families might have a different version of this.

 

This makes sense to me. It's a "this is how you did this time." Which we do as well just without grades. If you told a child that every single thing they did was "A" work, then that would be robbing them of important feedback. Grades in school serve this function too.

 

However, they also serve the function of being a final arbiter of what you learned or being compiled to create that final this is how much you learned final letter or number. I guess what I'm objecting to is the idea that working until it's an "A" is somehow doing a second grader any disservice. I can see an argument that letting a fifteen year old keep writing and rewriting a paper or take a geometry test over and over until it's an "A" robs them of the study skills and doesn't allow them to prepare for the real world where there are sometimes second chances, but not always and certainly not as many as you could possibly need. With older kids, I think you can make an argument that there has to be a consequence and a cut off. But a 7 yo redoing a test until they get it right? I don't see that that's robbing them of anything. Young kids need to learn the basic stuff and not just be told, well, you should have studied harder and then have to catch up later. I don't see any value in that for an elementary schooler. I mean, if my kid gets a "B-" in pre-calc or American History or whatever, then that's fair. That's a reflection of the work they did and what they mastered. But if my kid gets a B- in addition, that's not good enough. We just have to do it again until it's an A. And if that means going slower, then fine.

[EndOfOrdinary]

Totally makes sense.  As a person, I am not one who believes in shaming.  To a large degree, that is how grades are used in public school.  An A means you are great; you are some how lesser for each deviation below an A.  Using the grade as a jumping off point for conversation in what someone is not understanding, in ways the connections can become stronger, in frustrations about the learning process is absolutely necessary when they are younger. 

[Orthodox6]

I think it does kids a much greater disservice when you say, well, that was C level work. Now let's move on to something else.

 

I can recognize the need to give a grade that reflects the level of work as first performed later on. But in elementary school? I can't imagine how this is doing a disservice to a child to make them work to the point where they have "aced" their math facts, basic spelling, etc.

 

But I don't believe in grades for this level, so I don't really belong in the conversation, I guess.

A teacher should not "move on" without investing the time and effort to ensure that the student has sufficient grasp of material. I never shortchanged my children like that!

 

Since grades in elementary school are nothing more than "diagnostic" I don't think that a lower mark on occasion damages anybody, in most cases. At our house it simply indicated that additional effort was needed. It implied nothing else, and was no big deal.

[Farrar]

A teacher should not "move on" without investing the time and effort to ensure that the student has sufficient grasp of material. I never shortchanged my children like that!

 

Since grades in elementary school are nothing more than "diagnostic" I don't think that a lower mark on occasion damages anybody, in most cases. At our house it simply indicated that additional effort was needed. It implied nothing else, and was no big deal.

 

But if it's just diagnostic, then wouldn't you just keep going until the diagnostics are an "A"? I guess I don't get why working until it's an A at this level is doing a child a disservice.

[clementine]

For elementary grades I used S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, and U for unsatisfactory.  Really, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that unless you need to report grades to your school system.  

[fourisenough]

I grade math tests only for my 10-year old. Everything else gets qualitative feedback. We correct all mistakes (all subjects) together.

[MotherOfBoys]

For elementary grades I used S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, and U for unsatisfactory.  Really, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that unless you need to report grades to your school system.  

 

I really like this idea! I don't want to stress him with a test but I do want to know how much he learned. Lately, he wants to move on to the next concept and work on some previous concepts on the side. At a certain point though, he shouldn't move on till the concept is satisfactory. I have a kid that wants to know everything but doesn't want to put the time in that often to perfect anything. We are almost too "interest led" for my taste.

[boscopup]

If the curriculum comes with tests, I'll usually use them. None of my kids have test anxiety. They don't know why you would. I put a grade on the tests, but I don't record that grade anywhere.

 

My oldest did a standardized test last year. I didn't tell him the scores, but I did tell him he did well. Again, it was no big deal to him because he didn't see any reason for it to be a big deal.

 

Most subjects in elementary, I don't use tests for, and I don't see any point in assigning grades in those subjects either. In math, it's easy to test and make sure they're ready to move on. If they're not ready, we need to back up and work on something until they are. I can't imagine giving a kid a C and continuing on like they do in school. We'll work on things until they have shown proficiency in the subject (and that doesn't necessarily have to be an A... I've moved on when a child got a B before, because the curriculum had an end of year test designed such that an A or B were both sufficient to move on, and most of the errors were carelessness and not a case of not understanding the material).

[Guest]

No - I don't plan to give actual grades until high school. My children take quizzes in some subjects, but I don't give percentage grades. I will just indicate, for example, 18/20 on a spelling or math quiz, and they are responsible for correcting whatever they missed.

[Dory]

I give grades for math, spelling, and some science things. The kids have learned not to be so scared of tests because if they missed some major points, we go over it together, review for awhile, and then I'll rewrite up a new test for them and they can do it again. As they get older they will lose the redo it option and they know that, but it's giving them time to practice. Not to mention, it helps me keep track of what I've done and what they've done well. I keep them all in a binder along with their memorized pieces and writing samples and that's what I show our facilitator when she comes through.

[Doodlebug]

We are doing grades in math for the first time this year...

 

DS needed an objective way to evaluate his performance.  To him, 1 or 2 problems/words missed resulted in self loathing and talk of failure.

 

A percentage gives feedback on the work done well, and he really needed to see that in order to put his mistakes in context.

 

Stella 

[Mystie]

I don't do any grades at all and don't plan to. I do give feedback and I do prefer mastery work.

 

However, I do write a mark on most of their work: 100% on math that had no mistakes the first time around, C for "corrected" on math pages that have been worked to 100%. We use Sequential Spelling (in 1st & 2nd grade only) where words are corrected immediately, so those are always 100% as we go along. On writing, I give feedback and they always have to redo it until they've met the requirements and improved something. All writers always revise to improve. Reading and discussion has no paper to mark, but they do keep their own books read list. 

 

But I am also focused on doing less work but higher quality. We don't do tons of writing (an average of one or two excellent paragraphs a week) and MUS pages are much shorter than Saxon lessons. 

 

I'm putting together our 7th grade plans now and will be using more curriculum with more production expected, but my plan is to check things and go over together what he got wrong. Getting something wrong shows where teaching needs to happen. It's not helpful to just let it go and move on, imo.

[EndOfOrdinary]

I don't do any grades at all and don't plan to. I do give feedback and I do prefer mastery work.

 

However, I do write a mark on most of their work: 100% on math that had no mistakes the first time around, C for "corrected" on math pages that have been worked to 100%. We use Sequential Spelling (in 1st & 2nd grade only) where words are corrected immediately, so those are always 100% as we go along. On writing, I give feedback and they always have to redo it until they've met the requirements and improved something. All writers always revise to improve. Reading and discussion has no paper to mark, but they do keep their own books read list. 

 

But I am also focused on doing less work but higher quality. We don't do tons of writing (an average of one or two excellent paragraphs a week) and MUS pages are much shorter than Saxon lessons. 

 

I'm putting together our 7th grade plans now and will be using more curriculum with more production expected, but my plan is to check things and go over together what he got wrong. Getting something wrong shows where teaching needs to happen. It's not helpful to just let it go and move on, imo.

 

I am curious if you live in a state that does not require grades?  Or what you are planning on doing for a high school transcript?  As much as I am not fond of testing or grades, I am still caught in the idea of what high school reporting will look like.  My son wants to go to an elite college, and I'm unsure of how to work a situation that does not require tests for outside verification and grades for a transcript.

 

I do not think grades help the student much.  They feel very punitive.  So if you have figured something out I am all ears!

 

 

[Mystie]

I am curious if you live in a state that does not require grades?  Or what you are planning on doing for a high school transcript?  As much as I am not fond of testing or grades, I am still caught in the idea of what high school reporting will look like.  My son wants to go to an elite college, and I'm unsure of how to work a situation that does not require tests for outside verification and grades for a transcript.

 

I do not think grades help the student much.  They feel very punitive.  So if you have figured something out I am all ears!

 

No, I don't have that figured out at all. If I end up needing grades for transcripts, the grades will be for the transcripts, not the student.

 

I'm in WA state. We have to do a standardized test every year & submit a letter of intent, and that's all. I also don't show my kids their standardized test results. I'll tell them something like "It says you know a lot of words and need to work more on your math facts." Which is true and which we knew without the test or any grades. :)  

 

But, I don't have to report hours or days or curriculum or grades or anything, so I have the freedom to not sweat them. 

 

I was homeschooled, got my AA degree at the community college before I was 18, and never "officially" graduated high school. I transferred to a university on the strength of my AA and didn't need any high school records. However, I went to a state college and that was over 10 years ago. I don't know what the landscape will look like in 5-6 years when we have to look at colleges, but right now I'm more concerned with accomplishing education than the paperwork. :)

[Seasider]

In 3rd grade my dd started asking for math grades in Saxon tests. That was easy to calculate.

 

I "grade" her IEW work, but that's basically just using the assignment check sheet to verify that all assigned elements have been included in the finished work. It is not a grade of the literary quality of the work.

 

Both of these are objective versus subjective measures. With younger ones I would only give grades when such objective measures are possible. Otherwise it's basically, did you complete the assignment as asked?

[OneStepAtATime]

DS wants grades.  He insists.  So I try to grade where possible.  

 

DD has no interest in grades so I do not use grading with her.  We just do a lot of feedback and I do issue spelling tests on Fridays that indicate for us both if she is really understanding the rules that were taught that week.  She likes to see the results of the tests but doesn't care if there is a "grade".

 

For High School, she and I both are gearing up to do more grading and direct review/assessment for the transcript but also for some accountability between the two of us.  I tend to be more loosy goosy than DD really needs since she is even more loosy goosy than me.  She does much better with some structure and clear guidelines/goals, and with seeing progress.  So we will be incorporating grades in certain subjects into our day starting with this next semester to get us both into the swing of things.  She is fine with that since she knows that tests are not a punishment or to show her where she failed as we just move on to the next thing.  Tests are only a diagnostic tool.  If there are issues we determine what those issues were and if they need reviewing in more depth/a different way, etc.  The grade and the reasons behind that grade just indicate whether more review was needed or not.

[Raining Pineapples]

We are required to give grades, We have a choice of letter grades or outstanding, satisfactory, needs improvement.  I completely fail to understand the need for grades at this level. They are not moving on in math until they fully comprehend the previous lesson. They are not moving on in spelling with new words until the old words are mastered. They learn to read at different rates, that's ok and doesn't need to be addressed by a grade. Art is subjective....I just don't get it. Glad they are not in public school bringing home a report card and thinking that means something. 

 

That said,we use outstanding, satisfactory, or needs improvement. 

If they try their best , I will give them an "outstanding".

If they fight doing the work or whine about it often, then it's "satisfactory".

I won't turn in a "needs improvement" grade, ever. It all needs improvement and will happen over time.

My grading is more about willingness than ability.

[Incognito]

My kid has anxiety issues, and multiple family members with anxiety disorders, so I am very consciously working on taking teeny tiny steps toward grades. He also freaks out when he makes mistakes; we are working on coping strategies. Anyway...our math has tests, which I grade, and write a percentage, but I don't keep a running average. When the test is over, it is gone. For spelling, he gets to pick out a sticker if he gets 100%, but I don't write a grade. Anything missed gets written 3-5x and retested the next day. My plan is to start grading the spelling soon. When he can cope with making mistakes I will start keeping quarterly averages for one subject, probably math.

FWIW, you might want to revisit the idea of only giving a sticker for perfect spelling when you have a child who stresses about perfectionism.  From the outside, it sounds like the sticker rewards only perfect/no mistakes work and the rest isn't good enough.

 

Grades - we are in a situation where we choose to allow government oversight for curriculum $$.  This means the kids get grades.  I haven't really shared them much with the kids, and see the grades so far as more of a grading of how/if I am teaching them the things that are expected by the government.  

 

HoppyTheToad - I would give grades only in areas where there is an objective right/wrong.  Math, spelling - sure.  If you later have curricula that you use in science that would test known facts, then a test in that could be useful.  I find grades in other areas silly for the elementary grades.