Introduction
I was shocked speechless when I first heard the old teacher joke about grading papers using the “staircase distribution” method. If you’ve been spared this joke so far, the idea is that the teacher grades a stack of papers by tossing them down a staircase. The papers that land at the bottom are presumed to be the heaviest and, therefore, the best. They get As. The “lightweights” that stay on top get Ds. The “in-betweens” get Bs and Cs. Like any joke that hangs around year after year, there is a nugget of truth to this one. I knew some veteran teachers size up and label students: B student, C student, and so on. One of the teachers in the English department at the high school where I’d recently been hired told me it was the responsibility of teachers to sort students for the state university system. So, I was amazed to learn someone was coming to the high school to conduct professional development sessions with teachers about the idea that every student can be an A student. Our professional development presenter, Harvey Silver, challenged the idea that grades should always fall neatly along a bell curve—or staircase—and urged us to see each student as a unique individual rather than as a B or a C. He was an engaging presenter—down-to-earth, funny, inspiring, with a big reassuring presence. His approach seemed easy-going, but he was on a research mission to help teachers apply theories about multiple intelligences and learning styles in the classroom. His work would lead to the publication of So Each May Learn (Silver, Strong, & Perini, 2000) and many more books with the purpose of giving teachers tools to focus on how students learn. I was convinced by his presentation and ready to give As for all a try. I designed menus of assignment options students could choose from based on learning style and personal interests. The students produced amazing work. I still have a painting one student did of Doc from John Steinbeck’s (1945) novel
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