What can foundational Jewish sources teach us about grading practices in Judaic studies classes?

Ethics of the Sages 2:1 teaches, “רַבִּי אוֹמֵר... וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בְּמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְבַחֲמוּרָה, שֶׁאֵין אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל  מִצְוֹת. Rabbi [Judah the Prince] said...And be as careful with an easy commandment as with a difficult one, for you do not know the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments.” 

Conversely, 5:2 teaches, “בֶּן הֵא הֵא אוֹמֵר, לְפוּם צַעֲרָא אַגְרָא. Ben Hei Hei said: According to the labor is the reward.”

These statements appear contradictory. Either we don’t know the reward for a given action, or we realize that the greater the effort, the greater the reward. How do we reconcile these two ideas?

The simplest answer is that Rabbi and Ben Hei Hei merely did not see eye-to-eye. However, that’s too facile a response. Whoever compiled the sayings in the Ethics of the Sages would have immediately noticed the disconnect and would probably not have left it hanging there.

So let us look at these two statements from a more homiletic point of view. Rabbi seems to be saying that God does not assign points to particular mitzvot. The Divine does not sit on the Throne of Glory tallying everyone’s individual grades based on how many mitzvot they did and how “hard” those mitzvot were. Those who believe that God is involved in every aspect of our world and affects consequences for actions, must also believe in a God-like, complex, interconnected series of outcomes appropriate to each individual, rather than a linear thinking system of counting pluses and minuses. Rabbi is teaching us to do the right thing no matter what the reward; we should do something simply because it is correct.

Ben Hei Hei is addressing something totally different. He is saying that we feel more inherently fulfilled when we put effort into something; those things that come too easily to us are not viscerally satisfying. And when we feel the intrinsic reward of an accomplishment for which we worked hard, we go back and redouble our efforts to increase that good endorphin-like feeling.

These ideas, of course, have implications for our lives. In addition, we can draw from them lessons about Jewish education.

In Rabbi’s statement, we observe the paradigm of not knowing how much credit one should be given for one’s work. We need to begin thinking about this paradigm when assigning grades in Judaic Studies. What is chamurah, difficult, for one child is kalah, easy for another child. How do we base rewards on each individual’s path to attaining mastery over material, skills, or meaning-making? The answer is that we should not. What a student accomplishes in a particular class is not a measure of their worth, value, or personal success. But you can be sure that they will view it that way. Why would we want to color childrens’ views of themselves by assigning grades, which are, at the end of the day, at least partly subjective given that they are assigned by a human teacher? Would it not be better to use children’s output as teachable moments so that they grow from assessments rather than cower at the potential grade? Moreover, if a child’s self-confidence in math suffers because of math grades and they opt never to pick up a math book again after high school, that is sad. However, if a child’s view of his or her worth as a Jew suffers because of Judaic Studies grades, and they opt out of Judaism, that is a true tragedy.

And if we buy into the simplest reading of Ben Hei Hei, should grades be based on how much effort a student puts in? If one student aces tests with little to no effort and another student diligently studies and reviews each night, attaining lesser results, who should receive the higher grade? Is there any possible way to create an objective, fair standard of grading?

But remember, that’s not what Ben Hei Hei is saying. He is reminding us that when people (grade school children included) are intrinsically motivated by seeing their progress toward mastery, by feeling significant, and by believing themselves to be part of something bigger than they, they will be amply rewarded from inside and have no need of external rewards in the guise of grades (or God forbid, punishments in guise of grades.)

We are bidden to “walk in God’s ways,” meaning to simulate Divine principles and actions. If God does not assign grades to our accomplishments, perhaps we should follow suit when it comes to our students.