For many students it is imperative for them to be unsurpassed. In order for this to happen for them these students strive to go to the top. They live for the momentous A’s jumbled around all over their report card. A report card like that lets the student know that every hour they spent painstakingly studying to pass the test or to complete their homework was all worth it. However, what happens when that concept is no longer in place? When there is no longer the will in the student to prosper in their studies because the A that they have strived for is taken away from them? It then becomes hard to stay motivated to stay up all those hours to complete their work, they lose sight of the ultimate goal; to graduate and become anything they want to be. It soon becomes hard for colleges to distinguish between the kids who want to do well and strive for the perfection, and those who are doing just enough to get by. There are many disadvantages that can come of a pass and fail grading system, but perhaps the worst of all is the loss of a quality student. The quality student that all schools want to see first begins to deteriorate due to this new system through loss of motivation. Imagine being that kid, the kid who has always been at the top because they work hard at what they do. You’re up until midnight trying to finish your persuasive essay but once you realize you’re done you believe it was all worth it because you did your best and concocted an essay sure to get an A. Next week you are sitting in your classroom and your teacher passes back the essays. You ecstatically take yours back and there you see the stamp at the top of your paper letting you know you passed. However, it’s not like the A’s that you’re used to being in that plac... ... middle of paper ... ...check, some it shows that they need a little extra help because they just aren’t getting it. Of course there are many different meanings this moment can have but there is no way to experience this moment with a pass and fail grading system. The number one problem with it: it’s too easy. It's too plain and simple to "just pass". With that being said, how easy is it to lose sight of the ultimate goal when you can do the bare minimum effortlessly and still get away with it? Letter grades measure a student's success, with letter grades there is competition to be exemplary, thus resulting in better grades between all kinds of students. With letter grades students have the opportunity to stand out from the rest of those who make up their class. With letter grades there may be failure in the beginning, but with letter grades there is no reason for failure in the future.
“Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s”, an essay by Brent Staples, argues that in the past few years colleges have been very lenient when it comes to grades, and they have basically been giving students A’s that they don’t deserve. The reasoning behind this is that colleges are “faced with demanding consumers and stiff competition” (Staples 935). Some departments are trying to save themselves from administrators canceling their course because students don’t want to take their class, making them lose their job. The way students and parents see it, is that they are getting their money’s worth. Staples builds common ground by offering a solution to the problem of grade inflation, he thinks that higher standards should be set for the more
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.
This idea is absurd! Our educational grading system is a scale of A, B, C, D, F with mastery being an A, average being an C, and complete failing being an F. What we would be saying to our students under his point is no matter how hard you work and how much effort you give something, if you can’t be perfect you are no better than a failure. How many students would there then be that feel like why even try? This would lead to more drop outs which is another alarming issue.
America is quickly changing to be a nation of inflation. Grade point averages have risen from 2.93 during the ‘91-’92 school year to 3.07 nearly a decade later (Harding 21). This is mostly due to the change in grading scales from a traditional seven point grade scale, which a student could only earn an A if obtaining a 93 percent or higher and doesn’t award students with any “minus” grades, giving a student a B if he gets a 92 percent, and a 10 point scale which adds “minus” grades, so it is possible to have a 91 percent and only have an A- rather than a B. Some states, such as North Carolina, are now requiring all of the high school to grade on a 10 point scale (Lee 1). This is supposed to aid students not only in getting into college, but getting a job as well, because that is the ultimate goal in everyone’s life, right? One is supposed to get into college to get a degree so they can make money for the rest of their life. But the problem arises because the importance of getting a job has surpassed the importance of getting an honest education. John Harding even made the point that grading has changed from a measure and motivator for students to perform and learn to an external evaluation
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
Colleges in America grade students academically for successful careers. For years students grades were calculate by an alphabetic/numeric grade scale. Today colleges are questioning whether grades should be determined by continuing to use a grade scale or switch to a pass/fail scale. Although, there were numerous of factors both positive and negative about a pass/fail system to take into consideration before making a decision. I feel that colleges in America should continue to use a grade scale to convey to students that grades have consequences, open doors to opportunity, and alleviates perturbation.
...esome marks to students who do not deserve them just to see if they will put more effort into their work is completely wrong. Instead of encouraging them, it does the opposite. It will give such students “false feedback about their ability,” making them believe that what they are doing is proper, that it is the standard set of skills that everyone has, and that they will succeed in almost anything with the same attitude. This misconception will act as a disservice to these students because they believe that they “do not [need to] improve their mastery of a subject.” And once he/she reaches a point where they have to make a decision in the career path that they have chosen which requires said mastery and skill, they will realize that they have been misconceived and that they are not the intellect that they once believed they were.
One of the issues, which Boyer points out , is that teachers and students have different expectations from college education. She says that the teachers are mainly concerned about students’ comprehension of the material, their attendance and attention while students’ hopes are to get good grades and to be well prepared for exams. It seems that the system of grading pushes students to not care too much about what is being taught from an understanding perspective, but only promotes more concern about grades instead. Some students don't really pay attention unless the instructor mentions an exam or something that will be graded. Furthermore, be...
Giving students a grade that they have not earned hinders the youth’s future educational success. A number of schools are no longer giving a grade of zero on assignments, tests, and exams completed by students. While other school districts continue to give students the grade that is adequate for the work they have done or have not completed. Giving students the grade that equals their work is designed to show students where they need to improve. Many school boards want to stop giving out zeros for work that hasn’t been turned in and give a grade that rages around the “D” area keeping children from falling behind in their classes. By allowing student to pass through the school system the educational board is raising their graduation and success
Grading System Reform 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 shows 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.
Grade retention, better known as “staying back”, “being held back” or “repeating”, has been the topic of much debate within the educational system. The controversy which surrounds this long-standing issue has been reinforced by such topics as the recent endorsement of academic standards. Research indicates that “the rate of retention has increased by approximately 40% in the last 20 years with as many as 15% of all American students held back each year and 30-50% held back at least once before ninth grade” (Dawson, 1998). These discouraging statistics pose copious problems within a school system. The difficulties can be appreciated at the organizational level, as well as inside the classroom and, most troubling, within the individual students. The consequences, both positive and negative, reverberate throughout the school system. Grades retention is an issue which requires a prodigious amount of examination and should be considered carefully and thoroughly.
When students have easier grading criteria, it increases their ability to learn the material instead of focusing on earning better grades without understanding the material. Students sometimes need grading criteria that will allow them to focus on their studying more than focusing on how they will be able to pass their classes with good grades that will not affect their GPA’s. For example, I have taken many classes throughout my college career such as Psychology, Philosophy, and Statistics, some of them I need as major requirements. I took the classes and I have no idea until this moment what I have learned in those classes. As said, I have learned the material for these classes to pass the exams, and forget what I have learned the day after the exam. In this case, I do not blame myself that I have not learned the material as I have to, because I learned it to pass the class with a good grade instead of passing the class with the
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.
Its time to change the school system to save future students from becoming stress crazed and to let them know that there is more to this world than a grade card and in the long run it is a very small fraction of life.
Students aren’t progressing. (Steinberg, “What’s Holding Back American Teenagers?”) Some students could complain that the system is difficult to pass. ("Understanding Why Students Drop Out of High School, According to Their Own Reports.") These reasons are more to put the objectives and concepts into the time spent in high school and middle school-including more basic writing and history objectives could prepare them. This resolves the issue of time working against them since more skills is being assessed in the classroom. The next administration needs to increase and make better use of the money spent on public schools by providing the necessary tools; otherwise it could lead to an economic