Grades in France - harsh or honest? Maybe it's the same thing.

Back when I used to fill out college recommendation forms and write college recommendation letters for students, I remember often pondering the question of how much ‘above average’ the student I was recommending was. I had to think about this because most of the forms, if not all of them, had a ratings section which listed a dozen or more qualities - intellectual promise, integrity, concern for others, motivation, for example - and for each we were asked to give a rating of the student. The choices ranged from something like “no basis” to “below average” to “average” and then to five different levels above ‘average’. The top level was always “one of the top few encountered in my career.”

In my first few years of teaching, feeling I could have no idea what quality of student I might encounter down the line, I was bewildered as to how to know if this one student I was considering at that moment might be one of the top few I was to encounter in my career or not. It seemed like a flawed and biased question almost impossible to answer with any kind of accuracy. The questionnaire did however seem to perfectly reflect how we view grades and the rating and ranking of students in the United States.

From the earliest age, we all know the 100 point grading scale and that it really only runs from about 55 to 100. We know that 75% is a C, ‘average’, 80s are Bs, ‘good’, and 90s are As, ‘the best’ or, even more so, ‘the expected’. As a student, my understanding was that if the assignment was completed as asked, it merited an ‘A’. So for my work to be graded as “the best”, I just had to do exactly what was asked.

As a teacher, I better appreciated the complexity of grading and the difference between grading a vocabulary quiz, for example, with clear right and wrong answers and an essay or project where the “correct answer” was more nuanced. I have had many conversations with many students and their parents in which I confidently stated that ‘C’ is a “good grade” and, mathematically, it is, and realistically, it should be. Still, the message of the recommendation form, the idea that there are so many ways to be anything but ‘average’ or ‘below average’, reinforces the idea that everyone could and should easily be somewhere ‘above average’ in the American system.

In France, grades are a whole different ball game and I can admit that it’s been hard to make the adjustment. The grading scale is from 0 to 20 and the whole scale gets used. Students and teachers talk constantly in terms of “la moyenne”, the average, which is a ten out of twenty. Students who earn la moyenne on a difficult test or assignment are relieved. They know they successfully did what was asked. Anything above ten is reserved for those students who really know what they are doing and can more fully explain or more completely answer the questions. Anything sixteen and up is exceptional. Twenty out of twenty is practically unthinkable.

I grade like the American that I am despite understanding the French system. Maybe it’s because I’m stuck in my ways. Maybe I’m struggling to potentially inflict the same harm I experienced during my own time as a student in French schools when I was so discouraged by the 13s, 11s, and worse that I earned. Maybe I am forever rating my students on the ‘how-above-average-are-they’ scale which has little room for grades of 4 or 7 out of 20. I do, on occasion, by following the very strict and unforgiving grading rubrics, end up assigning a grade of less than 10 to a student’s paper. I usually accompany it with a frowning face - 🙁 - and a little note of encouragement that touches on what they did wrong but also on any glimmer of goodness in their paper or test and my confidence that they can do better next time. The students always seem less upset at receiving these grades than I am at handing them out, but then again, they’re used to this system which often feels harsh to me.

Friday was the end of the second trimester throughout France. Since I teach the same classes as one of my colleagues, she likes to compare our assignments and class averages. My class averages are between 14 and 16; hers are between 11 and 14.

“I’m a harder grader,” she concludes. I nod in agreement, though I have no idea. I do suspect that I am a gentler grader. My students have great attitudes and most make a serious effort on their assignments and evaluations. They participate actively, productively, voluntarily in discussions. That deserves being rewarded, right?

The end of the trimester is accompanied by a series of meetings called conseils de classe in which the principal, assistant principal, all of the teachers, and the student and parent representatives for each grade-level gather and go over each student’s report card - the grades and comments - and then approve or rewrite a summarizing comment which may also include a commendation or not from the conseil. This becomes the report card which gets sent home and becomes part of the student’s permanent record. The report cards of eleventh and twelfth graders also will play a major role in if they get admitted to college or any other program after high school. For colleges in France, only grades and comments count. Sports and extracurriculars do not play any role at all, and there are no standardized tests, no applications, and no recommendations unlike in the American system.

Knowing the weight of the report card on a students’ future and also knowing how harsh the grading can be, I was surprised to find the conseil de classe to actually be quite thoughtful meetings. I find the discussions during these meetings to be encouraging and positive, but if they aren’t, they’re honest. A student known to be struggling with an issue, for example, leads to an empathetic conversation about supports that need to be put into place as well as confirmation that the student earned an overall average of 6 out of 20. It’s all one big problem to be looked at, but no concession is made for the grade; it is what it is, no excuse, no shame, no pity, just reality.

The French educational system is one of elimination, which sounds harsher than it is. The system simply acknowledges that people have different skills and talents and that not everyone is cut out to be a great student. However, that does not mean that they can’t all be great at something. Even as young as fourteen, students can begin part-time school to learn a trade, for example. Then at sixteen, there are other options which can even include leaving school altogether to work or get job training. There are many fantastic vocational schools in every region of France which focus on trades needed or of that region. Here we have schools for mountain guides, for example. Other regions have schools for bakers or seamstresses, think haute couture.

Those who continue on through high school will continue down the tunnel with more specializing in their course choices each year. In senior year, they will make a wish list - une liste des voeux - with guidance mostly from on-line sites and then maybe parents or other adults. There are no guidance or college counselors here. The process is pretty straight forward. The list students make will include ten schools or programs they would like to go to after high school. Upon receiving the second trimester report cards from schools, the colleges and programs begin selecting students. By July, the first-round of the selection is final. Students who were not picked can then submit their final trimester grades and exams for second round selection. Those who are still not selected must then explore options in other countries or just plain other options.

For my entire teaching career, I can remember rumors of, and warnings and questions about grade inflation. Were we inflating grades in our classes? on standardized tests? on exams? for inspections or for recertification or for tenure or for any other reason? I have not done any research on this, but I feel pretty confident in saying that yes, yes we - teachers and schools and school systems - were inflating grades all over the place.

Already, in America, we have a 100 point scale of which we use only the top 45%. I worked lastly in a school district where we were not allowed to give any grades of zero, so if a student did not do the project, turned in a blank test, or never submitted the paper, we entered a grade of 50%, but not a zero. 50% was a failing grade, but to actually fail anything, a student literally had to do nothing at all and the slightest, tiniest, bittiest bit of any work at all was usually enough to push their average into the passing zone. At the elementary and middle school levels, students never got held back even if they failed everything every year, and at the end of 8th grade, they still got passed right on to high school.

The French system does feel somewhat unforgiving to me but it also feels honest. When I look at a student’s paper and compare it to the rubric and see it’s a low grade, I’m never surprised, but it still doesn’t feel good. The students, on the other hand, express acceptance and even understanding when given a low mark. They may be disappointed, but they are neither surprised nor accusatory. They have not grown up in an ‘everyone gets a trophy’ culture and, as a result, I find that they have much more of a growth mindset, to use an American education buzzword. Basically, they are resilient. They are aware of their strengths and challenges. They are also able to acknowledge and celebrate the success of their friends and classmates even when they have not been successful - yet, and they are able to keep asking questions and keep striving to do better even if the road is long.

In the conseils de classe meetings, we do recognize those students who are truly above average. They are as exceptional in number as they should be, I believe. We have yet to talk about a student anyone has identified as “one of the top few encountered in my career”, but I have heard stories in the teachers’ lounge about such students. The stories have the air of legends passed down through the ages.

I’m getting better at my grading here. By that, I mean that I’m getting better at understanding the rubrics and the expectations for the level of the student work. I’m also getting better at being honest with the students when they are not actually making the mark. It still doesn’t feel great to not be able to give them all 20s, but I also believe if I did that, it wouldn’t have any meaning for them. They know that in the real world you only get a trophy if you win.

Thank you for being here for another Wednesday newsletter about my life as an American in the High French Alps. To best support my work, please consider liking, commenting, or sharing this piece. Also, if you’re not already subscribed (it’s FREE !), you can do so by clicking the button below.

If you’re enjoying these newsletters, you may also enjoy my book - The American and the Bus Driver - that tells the story of how I met and fell in love with my French bus driving husband and my first experiences in the High Alps in France. You can find it on amazon.com, bookbaby.com, and bn.com among others.

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