In many schools, students who fail all of their classes are passed to the next grade if the students’ parents or guardians want them to be passed. The justification for this policy is that failing a student would hurt the students’ feelings and damage their self-esteem. These schools apparently base their policies on The Wizard of Oz, in which Scarecrow magically and instantly becomes smarter the moment he gets a diploma. In real life, that doesn’t happen. The grading process and its implications on student achievement are examined in this month’s column.