Real school is a place where a few succeed at exceptional levels, some do well, many do poorly, and of course, some fail.  It is a place where failure is not only accepted, it is expected.

School can be a place where real learning takes place.  Real learning is different from real schooling.  Real learning involves different skills and attributes than real school does.  In fact, the current buzzword in real school is “authentic” learning.  I’m not convinced that authentic learning can occur in a real school, where failure is still allowed.

If we take a student into our school, they are going to be successful.  They are going to learn about themselves, they are going to take responsibility for themselves as learners, and they are going to gain the skills necessary to go on to future learning environments.  They will not do this at the same pace, in the same way, or through the same activities, subjects, or interests. 

We all have such great learning potential and we all learn differently.  Real learning involves taking risks.  We can only risk when we feel safe (which is very complex).  And what one person needs may be different from another.  For example, knowing you can’t fail a course at school encourages risk.  It allows students to try harder things and challenge themselves, because if they don’t succeed at the task, they can still get credit for trying, for taking the risk, for learning.

At Chrysalis we base letter grades primarily on consistent effort.  We are influenced by other student behaviors and characteristics in the grading process like honesty, compassion, work ethic, attention to detail, problem solving, caring, passion, initiative, perseverance, responsibility, leadership, and improvement. 

We are not limited to measuring success with grades based on homework, tests, and class participation because we know our students.  Teachers give assignments, students design assignments for themselves, and teachers know what students know through conversation and in-class interactions. 

Students are not measured against other students.  They are not measured against some imaginary “average” student.  There is no such thing.  If you believe there is, then you believe some students should fail.  If everyone can succeed, then they have to be measured against a different, more personal standard.