One Week of Work

As the school year wound down this year, the same scenario unfolded as happens every year, students start to panic during the last week.  They chase points trying to get the grade they, or their parents, wanted them to get.  They look for extra credit, dig into the depths of their backpacks and pull out crumpled papers and ask, "Is this something I am missing?"

What is interesting to me is that those kids work with purpose for one week each semester, except it is for the wrong reasons.  At no point does the goal of that week have anything to do with learning. Maybe it is just my perception, but thinking back on the school year, many of the kids who are the one-week-of-work-per-semester kids are the same ones who answer, "To torture kids," or "To boss kids around," when asked about the purpose of school.

Would removing grades from the picture lead to more learning throughout the semester for those kids?  Would students be freed from the pressure to perform and seek knowledge?  Would they do even less than they do now because there would be no letter on the report card to be scared of?

Does removing grades and increasing desire to learn only work when coupled with more student autonomy? If so, how much autonomy? I suppose it varies with the student, but for those who only give their all during the waning days of the semester, something must change.

On a similar vein, Goldman Sachs is no longer taking their employees entire year of work and defining it with one number. They are restructuring their employee evaluation system to provide regular feedback and coaching.   It seems like work performance being a conversation between bosses and employees would provide more possibility for fine tuning throughout the year, ultimately more success for both the employee and the company.  I am sure they won't be the last company to switch over.

How long will it take for education to make the switch to feedback instead of a single letter to represent performance?