In eighth grade, there was a boy who sat next to me in class who excelled on tests and homework, but asked questions that clearly displayed a lack of understanding of the subject. How did he have such a high GPA when he really wasn’t all that smart? While he breezed by schoolwork without even comprehending the subject, conversely, my friend understood the topic at hand but failed nearly every test. If GPA really was a measure of intelligence, then how did he have a higher GPA than she did?
A student’s grade point average, commonly referred to as GPA, is a number representing the average value of the accumulated final grades earned in courses over time (“The Glossary of Education Reform”: Grade Point Average). GPA is used to measure your overall performance in school and is a key part to college admission. It’s supposed to be an accurate measurement of intelligence, but in reality, too often, it all comes down to how hard a person is willing to work.
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instance, a student who is rigorous at completing homework, doing classwork, and memorizing information for quizzes or tests will have a higher GPA than a student who may be smarter, but not work as hard. The only things GPA measures are dedication, self-discipline, and effort- not intelligence. As Lillian Graham from TheSamohi.com once said, memorization is not knowledge, and lack of motivation is not stupidity. We have seen many examples of people who haven’t done well in school but have excelled later in life. Albert Einstein, Sean Connery, and Abraham Lincoln are just a few people who embody this idea. tba One could argue that GPAs are needed to determine which students are qualified to attend a certain college.
While this may be true, there are other ways colleges can determine your abilities. ACTs are a much better way to determine the abilities of students. While a GPA compares you to your school, the ACTs compare you to the the rest of the country. An A earned in one town isn’t the the same as an A earned in another.
For example, Stockton Unified had a student who was valedictorian at his high school, but flunked out of Berkley. The valedictorian is the student who is highest ranked in their grade, or has the highest GPA. This again raises the question, if he had such an outstanding GPA and was thought to be destined for greatness, then how did he flunk out of college? We need to question the system.
question the system
It’s understandable to say that ACTs are unfair because it is a single test that shows everything you’ve learned, but it’s more fair than using GPAs from students all around the
country.
“Making the Grade” by Kurt Wiesenfeld Newsweek magazine, June 27 1996 brings to light an issue that has been glazed over by society for some time, grade inflation. It’s highly disturbing that “we lament that schoolchildren get “kicked upstairs” until they graduate from high school despite being illiterate and mathematically inept, but we seem unconcerned with college graduates whose less blatant deficiencies are far more harmful, if their accreditation exceeds their qualifications”. The issue of grade inflation is not simply an issue of students feeling entitled to higher grades than they have earned, it is a problem that directly impacts our society in a multitude of negative ways. Perhaps the “gold star” mentality started out with the good intentions of creating children with positive self-esteem, however, a direct result is lazy adults with a sense of entitlement for no reason, who lack qualifications to adequately and safely perform their jobs.
In our undergraduate admission system, fully 110 points out of 150 are given for academic factors including grades, test scores, and curriculum. We only count 12 points for test scores, but that is because we value high school grades to a much greater extent--- they can earn up to 80 points. We consider many other factors as well. Race is one of those, but a student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged also can earn 20 points (students cannot earn 20 points for both factors, however). Geographic diversity is also important, and a student from Michigan’s upper peninsula, for example, earns 16 points.
"Findings from a study released in early February showed that high school grade point averages were better predictors for how students would fare in college than SAT and ACT scores" (Westlund). GPAs better show colleges a student's success in academics than a test. GPAs better expresses a student's potential, determination and commitment to school.
Many students feel stressed out when having to take standardized testing. According to Kaplan, colleges are relying too much on the SAT and ACT. They are using a long test that becomes equally weighted to years of school. That seems to be a little lopsided. A student can do well through out all high school and then score badly on the SAT or ACT and ruin all of the hard work that the student put forward in order to acquire good grades. That can alter the students lives by making them have to...
Another example of this phenomenon took place in Toledo, Ohio. Nathan Card, a graduate of the 2017 class of Ottawa Hills, received a 35 ACT, but was rejected by schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell. All of these students met or exceeded the requirements for both of these schools yet they were somehow rejected even with high test scores. These are not the only students that have come across this issue, countless students across this Nation have experienced these similar issues. These tests can have a negative impact on students, as Columbia University recently stated that “Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance on one particular day and does not take into account external factors.
"I think our students are just doing too much, ' ' said Stu Schmill the Dean of Admissions at MIT. "They feel like they have to do too much, and they really don 't. We want to send this message that they can pull back on that a little bit." Changing this standardized testing method relieves some of the pressure off of students who already have a high enough GPA for admissions, and makes it an additional criterion for students who have a lower GPA but could still succeed within the college level curriculum. The SAT/ACT scores would still be accepted for all students willing to take the tests, but just may not be weighed as heavily in the decision-making process. The purpose of this possible change would be to broaden the spectrum of students brought into each university and make the admissions process less about standardized test
Getting into college requires students to make an assured grade on a standardized test called the American College Test. High school students begin in kindergarten preparing for tests; to make it to the next level you have to score a certain score. Pressure is forced upon many students when they begin sophomore year and begin to ponder the thoughts of college and life after high school. Once they have planned out their school, major, and work life after college, the school counselor plans a meeting to discuss the ACT. Students begin to be worried and anxious about grades and tests; all of these stressed students do not realize they have been passing test after test to score a good enough grade to get into college, where they will begin to take test after test to graduate college and even after college, these students will still be tested within their workforce.
Students should not have to take a test just to enter in to college because students are more than a test score, they are people too. Why are students compared with a test score that – more often than not - does not reflect their academic ability? These tests are biased because people write the questions and, therefore, they can make the question wordy and choose which ones to omit (Pollard). These test do not measure a person’s intelligence; rather, their test taking ability. As proof, the ACT science portion of the test do not pertain to science knowledge at all; rather, it ...
higher than previously assigned for given levels of achievement.” This means that grades are designed to recognize various levels of success, making them an important aspect of the education system in countries across the globe. They help determine not only where students are accepted, but help students earn scholarship dollars to aid students in paying for their education. However, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of A’s awarded to students in America to help those trying to get into and pay for college rather than earning A’s for the content of their work. There is a huge difference between the number of A’s given to students in America and
As stated earlier, many states require a student to pass a certain test in order to receive a diploma. This results in many capable students, who have finished all of their requirements, being denied their diplomas. If the Valedictorian does not pass the exit exam, are you going to bar him or her from graduating? It is a fact that some people are better at taking tests than other people. Intelligent students who challenge themselves throughout their high school careers and have high grade point averages can do poorly on a test, while a student who has only taken basic level classes can score significantly higher. Is that a fair representation of what ...
As a senior in high school, I have had more than enough exposure to standardized tests. The ACT, PSAT, ITBS, and countless others have tracked my scholastic progress for the last nine years. Each test takes weeks of preparation for just a few hours of actual test taking. Yet these tests only measure basic subjects such as math, science, and English. What these tests fail to track is students’ abilities to problem solve, empathize, and be honest. Skills that are vital parts of a functioning society. Creating a test that treats the student as an individual would yield better results, and would create a better learning experience for all.
By nature, most students are brought up in an academic environment motivated to get A’s and B’s on their report cards. Those grades sometimes don’t thoroughly report how much a student has learned or gained knowledge in each topic. Some instructors throw in factors totally unrelated to learning, when the main objective of academic institutions is to learn. In order to clearly demonstrate how much a student has learned in the classroom, schools should change their current grading system and teach students how to learn.
The argument on the debate on whether or not the academic grading system is fair or not, isn’t something that is discussed too often. We have come to accept that the current grading system is the norm and that it is something that is unchangeable. To question the fairness of grading in this debate, isn’t on how it was adopted, but rather on how much of a student’s progress is up for interpretation. With varying opinions from Professors, it makes it difficult to set a standard of work across the board. The need for a grading system is understandable, even necessary to be able to mark the performance of students, especially in higher education. A student’s knowledge is pivotal in obtaining employment and becoming
Your child is behaving good and they are doing all the chores you have asked them to do. You reward them with money for all the hard work they have done. In school, they have really good grades and you give them 20 dollars at the end of each week. However, is it really necessary to reward your kid for something they should be doing already? Allowances have already made a major effect on how kids act and behave at home and at school, although, not all the effects have come out positive.
The American Education system desires excellence more today, than thirty years ago. In this requirement for excellence from higher education and social achievements, issues of inflated grades have been implemented through educational policies. Which has left some wondering if giving grades based on merit is fair to the success of the student, educational system, or even the instructors. The fact is grade inflation is what gives college students a greater grade point average, and truth is an A today is nothing more than a C. For today’s student, grade inflation leaves students are going to find themselves unprepared when they enter the job market, faced with failure, and distressed instructors over evaluations from students. “Grades are broken.