There are many priorities held at schools by not only students but by parents and school administrators as well. These priorities are to learn, to get good grades, to make friends, and many others. Now a day, the number one priority in going to school is to get good grades no matter what. Getting good grades could lead to many wonderful things such as making your parents proud, being known as the smart one, and getting into well-known colleges or universities. For a while now, the grading system has been a controversial topic and has been hotly debated. Most of the time in order for students to achieve what they want such as getting into their dream college or simple things such as making their parents proud, they find ways to cheat the grading …show more content…
Grades do motivate students to go to school and to get good grades but do grades really motivate students in the right way. Grades do not motivate students in the way that they want to learn and maintain the information they learned. They only study and try to learn so that they can ace a test or final so that they can get a good grade in the class. After they pass the class, they completely forget everything they were taught because they were motivated in the wrong way. In the article “From Degrading to De-Grading” by Alfie Kohn, he states that “it doesn’t matter how motivated students are; what matter is how students are motivated. It is the type of motivation that counts, not the amount” (Kohn). On the outside grades may look like it is really working and it is really pushing students to do better but students aren’t really working hard for the right reasons. Instead grades motivate them to find ways to cheat the grading system so that they can have the perfect grades. People have to understand that grades do motivate students but does it really motivate them in the right way. There are many other ways to grade papers so that it can be clear whether the student really understand and can pass the class or if they are just pretending to understand. Instead of using points-based grading, teachers should use standard-based grading instead. Standard-based grading would be a more efficient way and allow people to understand how well the student is doing in class better. Number and letters cannot tell someone how well a student is doing. It is just a number and letter which don’t justify a student’s intelligence. Grading systems in school should be changed so that it can benefit students more. Making sure they are really learning and maintaining the information
In her article, “The Case Against GRADES”, Alfie Kohn discusses the grading system and its faults. She opens her argument with information from an older psychological study that proves the negative impact of the current grading system, and she reinforces this with the proof that “no” research has contradicted this statement. Also, she gives many key reasons including: “Motivation”, “Achievement”, “Quantification”, and “Curriculum”. Kohn supports these topics with other reasearch for why the system is failing the students. She asserts that, “… the absence of grading is a necessary condition for promoting deep thinking and a desire to engage in it.” As support, she offers other solutions and then debunks them by proving that they would not solve
Grades do motivate students to do better but, grades cause students to want to get a good grade instead of fully mastering the material. They look at school just trying to pass which promotes cheating on tests and homework. They also will choose the material that is the easiest and choose a class with a professor who doesn’t care to raise their GPA. School is supposed to be about learning and understanding new material to help gain knowledge and a new way of thinking.
Worrying too much about grades can cause students serious problems like not really understanding the work, make them not feel smart enough and lose interest in school and can cause anxiety and other health issues. In the article Mr. Bains said “ Indeed, there are several problems with strategic learners” (Project Information Literacy October 10, 2012 page1/4). One of the problems is students don 't really understand what they are learning if once they reach that high grade they want they will just stop. I am very guilty of only performing for the grade because I did it all throughout high school. I was taught that getting an A was the highest grade you can get so once I reached that A I...
I believe that to motivate students to do work, practice work needs to be worth more than 10% of a students’ grade. Ideally, I believe the grading scale should be closer to 75% knowledge, and 25% practice. I believe this would help students want to do their work because practice work is worth much more than 10%. If the students do not do any practice work, they can end up with a C, which in many cases is deemed average. Also, those who do their practice work well can use practice assignments to bring up bad test scores. Due to this, more students will do well on their practice work, therefore leading to better scores in tests because students are trying on practice work and they are doing work. Those on the school board may think that 75/25 would be too much weight on practice work, due to this I also think an 80/20 grading scale would be a good option. Seeing as students would still be getting more credit for their homework. The 90/10 grading system needs to be changed for Emma and for all the students at Austin High School in order to benefit them in the future, in both college and their future
In “How Grading Reform Changed Our School,” author Jeffrey A. Erickson discusses about how it is common in high schools to pass each student by their accumulated average of the entire class period. He described many examples to display the way of grading in high schools such as in behaviors, lessons, and tasks. He talks about the changes that were made and were in effect to achieve a grading average that reflects the student 's’ abilities and knowledge .
The article written by Michael Thomsen addresses the issue: should we as a society continue using a standardized grading system. Thomsen includes many reasons supporting his ultimate conclusion that we should not continue with any system of standardized grades. However, the reasons he uses to support his conclusion are affected by significant ambiguity which weakens the overall argument.
In today’s society we feel the need to be graded in order to learn. The topic of the grading system has sparked three essays, by three different authors, about the pros and cons of the grading system. First, Jerry Farber, professor at University of California at San Diego, wrote A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System (333). Next is Steven Vogel, professor at Denison University, who wrote Grades and Money (337). The last two authors in this compilation are Stephen Goode and Timothy W. Maier. They both are journalists for Insight on the News. While each of these authors have their own point of view on the grading system, all three essays talk about how being graded affects learning.
Traditional grading system will be my focus of this essay. Grading as numbers or letters, a conventional way of assessing students’ achievement, is one part of education and has been lately in controversy in USA. The argument is that the conventional grading practice is not in support of the ultimate objectives of education. In fact, it is in conflict with the values of education. Thus in this essay, I will argue that traditional grading does not play the role it is supposed to play and it is time to have a new and better alternative to this.
Certain educators across America are abolishing the traditional letter grade system, in favor of a fresh grading system where there are simply two choices, pass or fail. Therefore, students are either really good, or not good enough; there’s no more being average. Replacing the letter-grade method of evaluating student performance with a pass-fail grading system is not a great idea for a variety of reasons. First, it leaves students stressed out, when an exam is made pass or fail it causes students to crumble from anticipation and worry. Secondly, the teacher’s job is made easier, and grading can be handled quickly instead of thoroughly. Finally, it makes America’s colleges a lot harder to earn scholarships to. These reasons exemplify why the pass-fail grading system shouldn’t be implemented in America.
A statement from the Huffington Post states, “From a very young age, we are told the importance of getting good grades. Especially in high school, we are told time and time again that our grades affect what college we will get into. While grades are extremely important, people often forget about the importance of learning, not just getting good grades. There is a difference between the grade received in a course and the amount of learning that took place in the course.” Parents and institutions should teach the importance of learning. The society around the upbringing of students emphasizes getting good grades as apposed to getting every detail and aspect mastered. School priorities should be reevaluated and changed for future students
Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child’s performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate the plus/minus system in their method of grading.
The American education system has relied on the grade point average system for a long time. The problem with this is there is not a universal GPA grade point system varying from course to course. This creates an inaccurate way to determine ones overall achievements. Teachers have different standards than others, grade inflation can occur and students can be exposed to different learning environments. Does the education system need to change to create fairness?
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.
Today, grades are astonishing getting better by the second without a corresponding rise in achievement. Grade inflation has become a phenomenon it is affecting the quality of education throughout the country. Most students are receiving higher grades to which some are not entitled to receive. Most students do not make the efforts in their education affecting the overall quality of studies, according to the book Changes in High School Grading Standards in Mathematics, “grade inflation determines less educational value, less achievement.” When the students enter a job, they will not be ready because they did not develop the required set of skills and not acquire necessary knowledge needed to perform their duties.
...o focus solely on that which they are aware of misunderstanding. This saves valuable time for both teacher and student. It also helps employers save money by only hiring those who they know have a history of good work ethics. The arguments against grading systems are bountiful despite the obvious flaws. Test as a grading system in universities should be continued because, although the opposing view brings to light many valid points, discontinuing the current grading system would cause more problem than it would solve.