Should Schools Get Rid of Grades

Should Schools Get Rid of Grades?

By Caitlin Murtagh · May 24, 2018

As a recent high-school graduate of 2017, I can confirm that students
suffer from the grading system.

I valued myself by my grades, and so did my parents and my school,
which aimed to achieve excellent academic results. I was in an
environment where, if you performed poorly, it was frowned upon, and if
you performed well, it was celebrated. For example, in Year 10, I was
presented to the entire school along with other students for being a
'Model Student', having an average A grade across all subjects.

Entering into the HSC, I had high hopes. My straight-A history gave me a
lot of confidence. Unfortunately, I found my marks dropped dramatically
and I was soon failing nearly everything. Seeing the dreaded percentage
or grade scrawled in red on my paper became my worst nightmare. I
couldn't understand what was happening; I was trying harder than ever,
but my marks just kept falling. I lost faith in myself.

Despite this, I believe grades should be kept in schools. Why? The
grading system allows students to know where they stand and the quality
of work they are producing. It is a very effective tool, particularly if
detailed feedback is also provided.

However, schools, parents and the students themselves do not focus on
this benefit of the grading system; instead, we all focus on the grade
itself, thinking A is excellent, B is good, C is average, Ds are bad, and Es
are unacceptable.

During parent-teacher interviews, my teachers would often say I was a
*insert letter here* grade student. The grade was me. Some teachers even
pointed that out, saying I'd be 'lucky' to get a B grade, not that if I looked
at my results and their feedback and identify where I could improve and
studied hard, I'd be able to see better results.

The motivation behind the grading system needs to publicly change in
order to benefit students.

Yes, we know that our grade is 'feedback' on how we are performing in
class. However, we need to be able to understand that we all have the
ability to improve, and that a grade doesn’t define our capabilities.

In conclusion, the grading system should stay. However it should be
advertised as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Source: https://studentedge.org/article/should-schools-get-rid-of-grades