There has been a lot of ideas on how students should be graded yet it always seems to be the same. Tests, tests, and more tests. There are so many issues with this due to so many variables. Everyone has a different life and some students do more than others outside of school. Why can’t students be graded based on how they perform on their personality, how much they are involved outside of school, and their home life? Is not everyone different? To get good grades, students have to study and make sure all their homework is done. For example, I had a friend in high school who studied everyday for hours. I, on the other hand, are in swimming and very involved in my church. How am I--with little time--supposed to get better grades than him? Therefore,
Everyone does their job. Construction workers construct, teachers teach, and judges judge. Students learn. And if everyone works- whether it be in an office or in a school- why not pay students? Well, that's actually a bad idea. Paying students for their grades like you pay an employee is a bad idea in the long run.
According to a survey conducted by Robert Winberg, two of every four students prefer taking traditional tests over any other grading evaluation. In fact, most schools do not use a typical grading system like most people would think. Most schools have decided to try a different method. This method assigns students a long-term assignment where they must produce a project and present it at the end of the period, to show what they have learned. Teachers may find this effective, however I do not believe this to be the best option. Despite the horrible opinions and rude sayings about tests, homework, and quizzes, I think they are more effective. I believe the traditional grading system is a more effective way for teachers to grade than an oral-presentation because it is less time consuming, better for kids with social anxiety, and it gives students time to prepare and learn.
In “A Proposal to Abolish Grading” Paul Goodman suggests grading students is only setting them up for failure. He states, “a student will retain nothing of what he has “passed” in.” Goodman believes that students shouldn’t be tested for a grade, “but for his own advantage” so the student isn 't just “trying to get by” he will actually be encouraged to learn the material. Grades and testing have been around for over a century. Every American has had some kind of schooling in their life. As a student, I’ve always entered a new class with the mindset that I need to pass that class, hardly ever have I thought, “I need to learn as much as I can in this class.” So why should the system that educators believe works and have used for so long change? The American education system values grades and test scores more than students value learning.
School is slave labor. Rather than enjoying or learning from their classes, students are forced to do useless work that will often be forgotten immediately. Grades are meant to show much a student understands a class, but instead are used as a scale of how well a student can regurgitate answers onto a test. Students only work for good grades because of the threat of being punished for failure, and the promise of reward for passing. The punishments in this case are detention or trouble from teachers, and the rewards are making the honor roll or getting bragging rights. The real reward for learning should be having new knowledge, but this is not taken into consideration. Jerry Farber, a professor at U.S.D, made the strong claim that grades are useless and harmful in his essay, “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System.” I wholeheartedly agree with Farber’s objection to our current grading system.
For students, almost everyday begins by attending school. There are some students who excel and some who do not. The problem that is now faced is that the students who do not excel in school, are being rewarded for something they have not earned. These students are being passed to the next grade, but have not learned the necessary material. If students are failing, they should be held back because they are not truly passing, it is unfair to other students, and consequences will be learned.
Education is without a doubt one of the most significant factors in our society. We spend twelve years of our lives in the schooling system, and our system has been the most accurate technique for assessing students for decades now. Lately, there has been controversy over the traditional grading system that we currently use in our classrooms across the United States. There is a multitude of individuals who believe we should alter our grading system, and begin using a recently developed system which involves working on a long-term assignment throughout the semester to show what students have learned during the length of the course. There are many benefits to our traditional system that people often seem to overlook. We should be
Pass or fail grading systems is just not accurate enough to determine a students performance on his or her work. It is almost just not fair especially for students in college that have classes with a pass or fail grading system. Its not fair because students pay so much money to go
Of all the problems we have in our education system, grading is the most misunderstood. Alfie Kohn reinforces the idea that grades have a negative impact on students,in his essay from “Degrading to De-grading”, by stating that grades encourage students to take the “easy way”, by taking the least challenging courses. Another point Kohn makes is that students’ learning is negatively affected by grades because the students only recite the information for the test. After the teachers test the information the students just “learned”, the information becomes irrelevant to the student.The students quickly forgot the information and never really learn it. Not only do grades harm the student, but also the teacher. Grades harm
Grades and grading systems in the United States were developed to provide a standard method to evaluate the performance of students. In some cases instead of grades students were seated in order such that it indicated their rank in class (Schneider & Hutt, 2014). The function of testing and grading is a much more private measure. With grades being published for anyone to review, many people and groups have made judgements of the test inferences whether these people have experience and knowledge of evaluating assessments.
The argument that's brought up more often then not concerning the subject is the, "wouldn't it be fair" argument. This argument states that students should be able to rate their teachers because it lowers the chance that students will be taken advantage of. It forces teachers and professors alike to perform at the top of their capabilities and provide a fair learning environment for their students. One where the students will be punished for their wrong doings and so will teachers. It keeps things fair
What is the potential impact, of you not taking your grades seriously, second semester this year? To begin with, A potential impact of me not taking my grades seriously this second semester, is most likely, more APEX classes for me, not walking with my peers during graduation, and not getting my High school diploma. I’ve actually been thinking about this, for a while, and I’ve accepted the fact that, if that happens, it’s because I deserve it. I didn’t do what was expected of me, I didn't measure up to people's expectations of me. I’ve stuck to the Idea that It will happen, and that has been ruining my motivation this whole year. even though I know for a fact what is wrong, I really don’t know what to do about it, I can fix it, but It will
When helping Northern Arizona University (NAU) address Core Component 4. B, a colleague was overheard making a comment. The colleague said “We already do assessment. We give grade and course evaluations. If you want to know how much students are learning, look at their grades and course evaluations.” The following paper will describe why grades are not acceptable methods for student learning. Additionally, it will propose a few questions that will make course evaluation data more useful in addressing accreditation requirements. Lastly, it will outline how NAU can effectively address Core Component 4. B.
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.
In sports, analysts examine a players skills and abilities through the use of personal records and game statistics. Similarly, grades reflect a student's strength and weakness in the classroom. In Paul Goodman’s excerpt entitled “A Proposal to Abolish Grading,” he argues that Ivy League Universities should abolish grades. His reasons are that students focus on passing a test more than they do on expanding their education. Eliminating grading standards will allow students to learn new material without being stressed. Goodman's main focus is on prestigious schools, but it is an issue that concerns every school. For it begs the question if grades are necessary to measure a student's inclination to learn. Goodman believes that today’s students
If they are not graded on that, then will not be able to see how those aspects of their education are necessary in the “real world”. This can also negatively affect their grades. Students that are good at regular assignments, but not good when it comes to tests, it could be a serious issue for them, as it will be harder to get their grades back up. Several teachers told parents that they wouldn’t award the highest number on the scale, or that extra work must be completed to earn 4s, leaving children confused on how to reach the advanced level of proficiency (See “Parents give standards-based grading scale F” ¶ ). Since students aren’t being graded on their classroom participation or homework completion, their grades can take a major downfall if they do make a big mistake, such as bomb a test, and they might not be able to make up for it by earning bonus points from extra credit either. If they do, then it would be a lot more work than it should be. Students who are “standards-based” graded will see their overall grade drop due to the system’s inability to evaluate all aspects of their education, as well as not being able to fully understand its methods.