In Japan, teachers do not simply become stricter graders as students move from elementary school to junior high and then high school. Across all three levels, students are evaluated not only on knowledge and skills, but also on their ability to think and express ideas, as well as their approach to learning.
The major difference is how grades are expressed and what those grades are used for.
In elementary school, grades are mainly used to show how well a child is progressing and to guide further learning. From third grade onward, schools generally use a three-level rating system, which is broader than the five-level system used in junior high and high school. Grades are not usually a strong selection tool that determines whether a child can move on to the next grade.
In junior high school, grades are generally given on a five-point scale, and they may also be used as part of the student’s academic record for high school entrance examinations. For students who are already thinking seriously about which high school they want to attend, report-card grades can suddenly feel much more important. Evaluation also includes factors such as a student’s attitude toward learning, not just test scores. Because of this, some students become so conscious of their naishin—their school record used in admissions—that they may start feeling pressure to behave like the kind of student teachers will evaluate favorably. Students who are not yet thinking seriously about entrance exams may feel much less pressure.
High school also generally uses a five-point grading scale, but the importance of those grades depends partly on what students plan to do next. Students hoping to enter university through school recommendation or similar admissions routes may need strong grades accumulated over time. Students focusing mainly on general entrance examinations may place more emphasis on their performance on the entrance exam itself.
High school grades also matter for another reason: earning credits. Students must complete courses and earn the required credits in order to graduate, and depending on the school, grades and credit completion can also affect promotion to the next year.
So in elementary school, grades are mainly about showing a student’s current learning progress. In junior high, they become more closely connected with high school admissions. In high school, they can affect university admissions as well as credits and graduation.
The basic idea of evaluation does not completely change from elementary school to high school. What changes is how many real-life consequences those grades can begin to carry.
