Why is that some people slide through school taking shop, home economics, and gym classes? Probably because those classes boost their grade point average, GPA, and make them look more attractive to colleges. But, why should people taking harder classes like AP classes, physics, Spanish, calculus have to suffer from a lower GPA and class rank? Shouldn’t they be rewarded for their hard work? The question is “how would you change it”, and the answer is with weighted classes/GPA’s. Not many people know what weighted classes are. Luckily Lindsay (2015) spelled it out for those who don’t know what it is, “A weighted GPA is a GPA that takes the difficulty of your classes into account along with your grades” (para. 2). When schools use un-weighted classes it doesn’t always tell the whole story of how hard a student worked to receive their grades in high school. Those taking those harder classes, and still getting good grades, they should benefit from getting good grades in harder classes. High schools need to have weighted classes in order to demonstrate …show more content…
Students would no longer be able to stay on the top of their class by simply taking classes like welding or culinary; instead, they will have/want to take classes such as AP biology and statistics. This will create a much more fair and accurate picture of a student and where they rank in comparison to their class. Downs (2000, June) had a chart that listed some of the advantages of using weighted classes and some pertained to this idea: “encourages top students to take rigorous classes” and “highlights academic achievements.” It’s hard to imagine why more students don’t want to use weighted classes, from a college’s standpoint, they see that this student works harder than most and can still manage to get good
In his essay, "Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” Staples claims that student grades are increasing for the wrong reasons, causing college degrees to become meaningless. Staples provides evidence that average grades have increased significantly over the last several decades, but claims that it is not because students are working harder. The real explanation for grade inflation, he argues, is the effect of grades on both students and their professors. Teachers give more A’s to receive better evaluations and increase job security. Students give more importance to their grades as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of a college education. Staples argues that modern
“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.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" (Nelson Mandella). School is what is developing our future generation, so why should it be put aside by sports? Most kids who are white won't make it to any major sport anyways. School should be number one priority, nothing not even sports should get in the way of that. If an athlete can't find a way to do both then they shouldn't play. And besides some athletes don't even want to do their sport they are it being pushed by their parents. This is why it can't be replaced by things like basketball, football, and soccer.
For anyone attending college the focused-on objective is to gradate and put their all-around earned degrees toward their motivation. In any case, imagine a scenario where, even facing the toughest assignments, despite how you believe your grade will manifest you manage to pull off the sought after passing grade. However, whether it was an 'A' for afford or a job well done, colleges are becoming less nit-picky and more reluctant toward the grades they award their students. Although receiving a 'get out of jail free card' would seem like the ideal college experience, Brent Staples protest, "Faced with demanding consumers and stiff competition, colleges have simply issued more and more As, stoking grade inflation and devaluing degrees" (Pg. 1065). Throughout the essay, Staples constantly uses appeal such as logos and ethos to
High school students everywhere in the United States make very selective class choices based on careers they may want to pursue in the future. One decision that the students may make is to take an AP class. Among students, when they hear the name AP they automatically think stress, and homework, and tests; however it also means college credit, and advanced placement and promises a future. What if the College Board changed the benefits and decided that if the school board had a problem with the crew framework and felt the need to change it, then this AP class wouldn't be worth anything in college? The promises of college credit and advanced classes would be ripped from the students' hands, and the choices they made in order to take this
Parents are forcing students to take classes they don’t want, leaving the student dull and unheard. Parents focus their kids to take challenging classes in order to satisfy their fear of the child getting into a good college. Students are told by parents and the school system that they must take this challenging class and extracurricular just meet ‘the standard quota” but reality it’s not true. For instance, Zinsser’s did a survey on Yale students and asked the students a question about their parental guidance and why they follow it. The results were scary, most students stated: “well my parents want me to be a doctor… They’re paying all this money….” (Zinsser
We see a constant struggle between students and professors when it comes to the grading scale. These differences make learning a hassle. “I am placed in the position of having to figure out new ways to trick them into learning by designing ingenious new ways to grade,” says Vogel (339). The present grading system pushes students to take easy classes. Students on scholarships are afraid of taking hard classes because they run the risk of loosing financial aid if their grades don’t meet the average (Vogel 339). Farber agrees, “Getting graded turns people away from hard subjects,” (334). He offers his readers a utopia free of grades. This new...
He will also labor for countless hours over courses that have no application in his chosen major, like Math requirements for an English major, or a literature class for an engineer. Or less obvious classes like algebra which “Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce forecasts that in the decade ahead a mere 5 percent of entry-level workers will need to be proficient in algebra or above.” (Hacker, Andrew). these pointless classes are an expensive tradition forced upon students for no real reason beside to give them a “well rounded” education. This might have been the point of college in the 1950s but is now just another roadblock to a well-paying career which is the number one reason why students go to college no citation needed.
Instead, they have to take classes that have close to nothing to do with their major, but are only taking these classes to fulfill the general educational requirements. I believe that taking these classes could potentially hurt a student’s cumulative GPA if getting a low grade. Taking these classes are not just a waste of time, but it is time wasted that could have been used towards major classes. Upon graduation, some feel that they are at a disadvantage because more time could have spent on learning more within their field of study instead of time spent on irrelevant
does not truly depict the potential that a student has to succeed. On one hand, a student could have a 4.0 GPA, but score poorly on the SAT, and be denied a chance...
There are many arguments to support the abolishment of core classes in college. One reason is a financial one: a great bulk of tuition money that the students pay to college is for their courses. It is not right to have the college take this money and make the student's decisions for them. The students should have the right to make this
Students are expected to become well educated, self-thinking, and creative citizens. When teachers are expected to teach to a state guided curriculum students are limited to the standards and content of knowledge. Students are all given the same multiple choice test, on the same day, at the same time. Students are not given a chance to show their depth of knowledge.
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
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
Within a typical high school, there will be many different kinds of students. Likewise, there will be many types of different classes. There will be students (similar to me when I was in high school) whose main focus is getting into a quality university program. For these students, there will be a rigorous set of honors courses. Any student may enroll in these courses; the advertised amount of extra work they require will keep out the students who don't belong in them.