A Slip in our Application

No, You Don’t Get an A for Effort by Adam Grant
The New York Times, December 26, 2024

When Adam Grant, the balanced, wise, and respected author, writes what might sound like a complaint about students, one pays attention. The article “No, You Don’t Get an A for Effort,” is not a whine at all. It is a revealing tracking of an idea – in fact, a misunderstanding – that we may have raised Gen Z students on: that effort is an end in itself and should equate to high marks. To make his point, Grant takes us back to the groundbreaking work of Carol Dweck who more than a generation ago changed the conversation of adults with children from praising intelligence to praising effort. Her work offered evidence that encouraging a growth mindset in our students’ understanding of their capacities is preferable to language that promotes a fixed mindset about ability. Cut to today and the student who is asking for an A. Has there been a slip in our application of Dweck’s important message? Grant tells his students that he wants to give as many A’s as possible but that these marks won’t come only through diligence; rather, he expects a steady, balanced approach to participation, study, writing, following fruitful pathways forward, showing up, improving, and above all, gaining mastery of knowledge and skills. In his words, A’s are “not for what one puts in, but what one takes out,” a course-correction for educators to own and for students to understand in both theory and practice.