Process Essay: Op-Ed On The Grading System

Education is a long-term investment. We, as students, work hard to acquire knowledge and to hone our skills so that we may use them one day. The effort we put into a single assignment should be considered as both for that specific assignment and for our rounding as complete, educated individuals. And with this mindset, students should be motivated even more to put more effort and hard work into academics, with the goal of bettering themselves for the future and advancing their prospects as individuals. And with this hard work and effort will come progress, and this progress should be reflected in the grading—not necessarily on individual assignments, but on the student’s education as a

In the article, “From Degrading to De-Grading”, by Alfie Kohn he discusses the harmful effects grades have on students. Kohn argues that there are better ways to assess students’ progress other than letter or numerical grades. Grades are a great concept but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. Cheating can become a problem, students won’t take challenges, and they develop unhealthy competition between one another. There have been many studies conducted over the years that support Kohn’s argument.

Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, “Degrading to De-Grading”. The author suggests more effective ways to assess students’ progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, “I got a better grade than you!”. Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could make positive changes in the system.

Historically, letter grades have served as a tool to rate educational intelligence. By looking at the progression of a student’s grades over time, people are able to determine whether or not the students are developing skills in certain areas. Using a one letter grade to determine progress has received many critiques as a common system used in America’s education. Critics claim letter grades cause students motivation and creativity to decrease because grades shift students focus from learning the material to obtaining a good grade.

Pragmaticism, indeed, will dictate that schools, assessments, and organizations long-established will not be altered for light and short-lived causes. Hence, a gradual shift in culture and method must occur which reforms the quantitative nature of grading systems. However, let the negative effects of the current grading system be known in a direct way:

Furthermore, the author points out that grades are not improving because students and education are improving but rather because parents and students are demanding grades to be adjusted according to what they think it is needed not what it is deserved. “Students and parents are demanding -- and getting -- what they think of as their money's worth” (Staples, 216). Students are not receiving the grade they truly deserve based on their work but what the parents and the students themselves

While many believe that the grading system has a concrete standing in the success of education, other’s believe that it actually can inhibit or at least lessen the effectiveness of learning. In “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System,” Jerry Farber states that for the longest time, many have dismissed the fact that grades could be harmful to the learning process. He argues that grades lack the ability to bring about self-discipline within the students learning the content. While the educational system has rendered changes throughout the years, the grading system maintains its virginity and has been fairly untouched. He insists that many educators are in strong belief that grades are the only way to ensure that learning is to take place within the classroom. Most of society would dictate that the system has been fairly effective in getting individuals through their schooling. But as Farber points out, students tend to focus more upon the grades they are receiving and less upon the content itself. Throughout his writing, Faber uses many forms of rhetoric to persuade the reader to believe the fact that the grading system is corrupted and should be changed, and offers a solution which is referred to as the Credit System. With this being said, it can be stated that Farber effectively conveys his argument through his appeal to a younger

Kurt Wiesenfeld's article, "Making the Grade," presents the social issue of grades. The author explores the extent of this problem by examining the social environment in which these students were raised. Wiesenfeld also addresses the changing attitude towards what a grade represents and the true value of a grade. The author effectively uses several writing strategies to engage the reader, influence the audience and illustrate how much thought he has given this issue. The essay is organized by a logical progression from thesis to individual claims and the author provides real-world examples for the issues. With those real-world examples, Wiesenfeld explains how serious the problem can become and demonstrates why the issue should be addressed.

“Grades don’t prepare children for the ‘real world’- unless one has in mind a world where interest in learning and quality of thinking are unimportant” (Kohn, 9). Grades, as we all know, have been the ultimate form of estimating how much of a certain subject someone has learned for many years. As the years have passed however, new innovative ways to help the way kids learn, other than judging them with numerical values and letters, have surfaced that can possibly rid us of this barbaric system. Alfie Kohn has done a very effective job explaining them, while pointing out many of the flaws in the old schooling system with his read “The Case Against grades”. He does this by providing eye-opening facts along with refreshingly innovative ideas to get the reader’s attention while tapping into their emotions and allowing these two to join forces to create a logical appeal.

Grade inflation is the tendency of educators to improve a student’s grades. Although the practice is frown upon, grade inflation is a reality faced in educational institutions. In his essay “Grade Inflation - Why Princeton Threw in the Towel,” published in October 15, 2014, on MindingTheCampus.org, Russel Nieli documents the origins and consequences of grade inflation. Nieli (2014) claims that grade inflation rose across the globe after the 1960s. While he cites explanations for the phenomenon, such as the Vietnam draft and racial admission policies, Nieli (2014) argues the real factors for grade inflation include the following: student involvement in course grading, “weakening” education authorities, overemphasis on grades in employment, and the self-esteem movement. Lastly, Nieli (2014) chronicles the efforts of Princeton University, which opposed grade inflation through grading policies, but their efforts failed, as growing opposition forced the abolishment of those policies. I argue that Nieli overlooks how educators inflate a student’s grades, and I will critique Nieli’s stance on employment and grade inflation.

    It's June, and another graduating class is hoping, among other things, to achieve high grades. Of course, "high" is a subjective target. Originally a "C" meant average; today however, the expectations and pressures to give and receive "A's" and "B's" takes its toll on teachers and students alike. This nullifies the value of the traditional grading scale and creates a host of entirely new problems. The widespread occurrence of grade inflation seriously affects the credibility of secondary and post-secondary education in America.

Alfie Kohn brings attention to this unfortunate truth in his piece From Degrading to De-Grading, where he exposes many of the existing flaws present in the grading system today. He first does this by listing the three primary main effects of grading. The first being, that "grades tend to reduce students ' interest in the learning itself" (Kohn). Secondly he reveals his analysis that "grades tend to reduce students ' preference for challenging tasks"(Kohn). And lastly, Kohn expresses his belief that "grades tend to reduce the quality of students ' thinking"(Kohn). To give Kohn some credit, he does justify his sentiment toward grades by including somewhat brief explanations annotated to each of the aforementioned effects provided by him. The issue with his argument isn’t necessarily that it is factually incorrect, but that the current method of grading is far more effective

In “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation,” Alfie Kohn sets out to determine if grade inflation is indeed fact or fiction. The opening quotes provided by two professors at Harvard University separated by over century has most definitely peaked my interest. It had me questioning whether or not these professors are holding our education system to a “Harvard” standard or is their actually truth to their statements; that feigned students are indeed submitting “sham work” (Bergmann, 260). Kohn goes onto indicate that: “To say that grades are not merely rising but inflated—and that they are consequently ‘less accurate’ now, as the American Academy’s report puts it-is to postulate the existence of an objectively correct evaluation of what a student (or essay) deserves” (Bergmann, 263). To theorize grade-inflation is to question the judgment and teaching of all the previous and future educators of America. It also raises the question of why has not there any concert data to support this claim. Why is our educational system delaying this investigation since this concern has been around for years? Especially, now that grade inflation is starting to gain more momentum.

Imagine you are a high school student sitting in the middle of the big final for your hardest class. You look around and everyone has different sized tests because you’re all graded on different scales. How fair is that really? This is just one of the many scenarios that could happen if we change the grading system we have in place at this point in time. Although there are other similar systems that work, none of them are quite as easily understood as the percentage-based A-F grading system.

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.