They’re a source of both anxiety and pride, but school marks can also
have long-term consequences for students. Most teachers reward student
achievement, but also the skills, attitudes, habits and behaviours that
are necessary for lifelong learning. However, as this month’s PISA in Focus
points out, the tendency of teachers to award higher marks to girls and
socio-economically advantaged students than to boys and disadvantaged
students – even if they perform equally well in school and have similar
positive attitudes towards learning – is cause for some concern.
Students often base their expectations of further education and careers
on the marks they receive in school; and school systems use marks to
guide their selection of students for academically oriented programmes
and, later, for entry into university. So whenever teachers reward – or
punish – certain student characteristics that are unrelated to learning
they may inadvertently shape a student’s future according to factors
that have nothing to do with the student’s abilities, talents and
personal goals.