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Changing The Grading System To A Pass Fail System

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There has been some debate as to changing the grading system to a pass/fail system or to leave it as it is. Some educators believe that giving grades in a classroom is detrimental to the students’ educational growth, but in all reality, a pass/fail system does exactly that. I believe that it is important for students to be graded on their school work. A five letter scale grading system not only shows where the student is at in learning the material, but it also motivates and prepares the students for the next level of learning. A pass/fail grading system does not motivate students to do better like a five letter grading scale. There are only two grades; there is pass or there is fail. In that grading system it does not matter how well you learn the material; one just has to pass. Plus, it does not encourage over achievement like a five letter scale does because it does not matter if you did better than the other person; you both passed. This system would not prepare students for higher levels of learning as a five letter scale would, and it also does not motivate them to do better because they only pass; they do not excel. …show more content…

For example, if a student has an A in a science class, that shows that he or she knows and understands the material quite well. A pass/fail does not show that the student fully understands the subject, only that they know enough not to fail. A pass could range from an A to a D, and, certainly, if the student obtains a D in a class, they do not understand the material

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In “From Degrading to De-Grading,” Alfie Kohn criticizes current grading systems and their alleged harm to students. Kohn first lists three main problems with grading and then adds seven more. In summary, grading results in students showing little interest in learning, students choosing easier assignments, and less creative students (p. 254-255). The next seven points expose grading as unreliable, distracting, and tedious. Grading also incites cheating and ruins relationships between students and teachers (p. 255-257).

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A student's knowing his or her letter grade can be quite stressful if said grade is a substandard one; however, it is the utilitarian transparency of GPA that motivates a student to improve. As Rampell asserts, grades "do provide some useful information about relative achievement among students. " In other words, GPA performs the task, albeit an unpleasant one at times, of separating the high-achieving students from their low-achieving counterparts. Realistically, if one individual is trying hard in school and receiving higher grades, that individual should be given credit for working harder than a student who is not putting in his or her best efforts and is receiving lower grades. Clearly marked letter grades go a long way in making this difference discernable.

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Kohn believes grading is a harmful thing for students because it is more of a game with competition. He views grading as something that does not lead to improvements in performance but holds students back from doing their best. He states, “A school’s ultimate mission, apparently, is not to help everyone learn but to rig the game so that there will always be losers” (Kohn 2). Kohn relates school and grading to a game. A game where students begin to try to outdo one another rather than focusing on their academics.

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The letter grade system is the typical grading way. Now in days, it’s stressful for students to concentrate on education, Farber says that the students get to stressed out with letter grades, also he believes that students can’t expand their knowledge in school. He states that, “We’re grade junkies” (Farber 385), he is convinced that students can never learn without the letter grade system to keep them going, also he is convinced that students shouldn’t be graded on their qualifications. There’s only so much a letter grade can do to help students grow their

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Due to the fact that it’s easy for just about any one reading this to relate to a grading system cause we all have received an amount of schooling before. The

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They lack the indication of students’ knowledge as they are only a depiction of their effort. Absences, laziness, and disengagements are just a few of the factors of why grades are a poor representation of students’ intellectual capacity. While others may argue that grades motivate them, it is not genuinely correct since grades encourage

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Having you ever had to take a class in high school but never really learned anything from it? Most students have been introduced to this problem, but the few who have not been in this situation due to the difference in their schooling system. In my opinion, I think that the alternative grading system where testing is not the center of attention is much more effective. On the other hand, many people may argue that the traditional system that focuses on test, homework and quizzes is more beneficial, rather than a long term assignment. But, my reasoning states otherwise.

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