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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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