Blog Six - Grades
Grades have long been a crucial part of school systems across the world. To determine a student's academic performance, they can serve as a guide for parents, teachers, and students to gain a better understanding of how well the student understands the material. An integral part of education, marks provide a more structured way to measure if a student requires extra support or how they are doing in the class. However, they are a constant source of anxiety for students. They are pressured to constantly chase after the A-grade or define themselves by their grades, which is one reason why many oppose the grading system.
One of the most essential parts of comprehending an unknown concept is finding one’s weak areas and improving on them. Scores provide students with an opportunity to check themselves in an easy-to-understand way. So, if a student has marks that may be slightly lower than they wished for, they are aware of what concepts to pay more attention to. According to a paper published by the University of Chicago titled The Importance of Grades, “Ninth-grade GPA is, in fact, a much stronger predictor of high school graduation, college enrollment, and college persistence than standardized test scores.” Grades encompass academic knowledge and perseverance. Students who are more dedicated and put more time and effort into their education tend to receive higher marks. Furthermore, teachers also benefit from having a measure of students’ progress. They can see how a student is performing and if they are struggling with any important concepts, making their learning more targeted to their needs. Lightening the load on teachers by making it easier to determine where a student is with their understanding will leave them more time to take action and assist students as needed. Additionally, alongside providing students a way to check their progress, scores can also serve as a motivation for students. They can set clear goals, like getting an A or a B on their next test, and work towards this goal! Grades provider a straightforward progress marker and allow students, parents, and teachers to do more with the knowledge of where their student is at.
Conversely, critics argue that an education system based on grades should be changed or removed entirely. Having grades can be the only motivation for students to study, rather than learning. As posted in a blog post titled The Case Against Grades, by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ACSD), marks diminish students’ intrinsic motivation to learn for themselves, and teach them that they only need to learn to get good grades. This can lead to an unhealthy relationship with learning and students being overly reliant on external motivation and tying their self-worth to their grades. Instead of reaching for mastery, learners reach for good scores. They compare their marks with others, and their self-esteem can drop over a single test. Many parents put a lot of emphasis on grades and test scores, and their children can end up developing the idea that love is conditional and their only worth stems from what they can provide for others or how much they can achieve. A blog post from the University of the People titled Effects Of Grading System On Students: Pros And Cons cited a study where around 80% of first-year college students stated that “their self-worth was tied to their academic performance and competence.” Grades and test culture teach students to determine their value based on numbers. If a student receives a bad grade, it may harm their self-image rather than serve as an assessment of their current mastery of a concept. It can lead to a void of self-hatred and low self-esteem.
In this complicated educational terrain, the discussion of whether a grading system should be used or not remains a highly controversial and debated issue. Like many issues, there is no clear answer to whether marks help or harm students. Grades provide an excellent way to easily indicate students’ mastery of the material. They can communicate to a Nonetheless, the aim should be to create and perfect an education system where students are motivated to learn, but put their mental health and well-being above all else.
