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).
Cassie Davis, a former student at Highland High School in Nunn, Colarado, worked herself strenuously in order to achieve academic excellence. She took every AP and Honors class she could, and in her senior year, while the others students began to relax as the result of their college applications being finished, she hit the books and continued to take classes at the University of Northern Colorado. However, she was punished for her diligence, as her school’s grading system discounted her college credits, and she lost her valedictorian status to a kid who had not taken difficult college courses. She found that she had been cheated, punished for choosing to challenge herself and learn more.
Grinberg also points out the varying opinions given by parents of the new systems; consequently, a couple of parents are seeing the benefits to the detailed insight and a couple of other parents claim they rather keep the letter grades. In the end of the article, Grinberg acknowledges the common goal schools that use the new grading system have with the schools that rely on traditional report cards, the common goal schools share is to use a system that communicates to the parents on student learning on an ongoing basis and see academic progress among the students. As a student who went through years in the education system using a grading system that integrated both the traditional based system like report cards and standard based system with teacher commentaries, it would be ideal if there was a system that balances the traditional grading system and the standard based system. A combined system would provide parents the convenience that the standard based system provides with the use of technology and detailed feedback with communication between parents and teacher while maintaining the letter
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.
Grade inflation is a reality throughout the United States. This means that students are being awarded with higher grades than they deserve or worked for. This phenomenon is affecting the quality of education throughout the country. Students insist on getting ‘’their money's worth’’ when it comes to receiving grades. Teachers don’t want to be nagged by students and administration for low grades.
Identity is the fact of being who you are or what a person is. Everyone has an identity, but does identity shape you as a person? Many people can think it doesn't but in the short stories Passing by Langston Hughes and Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, it is exemplified that identity does shape who you are. We see two characters Jack in Passing and Doodle in Scarlet Ibis face Identity difficulties and how these challenges build who they are as an individual.
Farber believes that the grades create phony motivation and students only want to please the teachers. According to Farber, students only retain the material until they are graded on it. No longer having a grading system would leave students having no drive in school. Schools would no longer have a basic form of ranking the students and see how well they are doing. Students would no longer want to see the point in striving to be the best when everyone is ranked the same.
“What’s your favorite time of year?” “Summer!” This is a common question asked by an adult, and a typical reply from a child. Of course summer is their favorite time of the year because they have summer break! 10-12 weekes full of sun and fun!
Introduction In accordance with the statement “The law is a tool of domination, and cannot be used to resist existing power structures” from the question provided, a link can be drawn in relation to twentieth century political movements and ideologies regarding their similar as well as differing perspectives on the nature of law and power. The movements that will be taking part in the analysis of the law and the power it maintains through the lenses of Marxist and feminist thought and lastly critical race theory. With each movement being formed out of various issues experienced within society, all three thoughts have certain characterises that another thought shares.
During the past school year, I attended Tanenbaum chat Kimel as a grade ten student. Grade ten curriculum helps students realize and decide what they type of careers they would like to pursue. Students are taught 12 courses a year which consist of Hebrew and English courses. Courses include, Math, Science, English, History, Careers, Drama, Physical Education, Ivrit, Tanach, and Talmud. Courses can be split into different categories.
Although the common belief is that certain aspects of school are important for an ideal education for all students, the main problems that need to be rectified as soon as possible include the lettered grading system and test scores as the main measure of achievement as well as a lack of disciplined and motivated in teachers who do their jobs correctly in order for their students to reach their full potential and excel in life. Out of all the issues with American education today, one of the most overvalued yet problematic for students is the grades and scores that represent their classroom proficiency and content knowledge. It is true that today, in the United States, the easiest and seemingly most reliable way to track student performance and rank schools by quality of education is by simply marking students based on their scores on assignments and assessments done in school or on standardized exams designed to measure mastery of content, and by comparing and analyzing the
Compare and Contrast Essay: Block Method Story 1: “And of Clay Are We Created” “And of Clay Are We Created” is about a girl that gets trapped and a reporter stayed by her side. The reporter did his absolute best to keep her alive, but her body couldn’t hold out any longer which ended in her death. If someone needs help always provide whatever is possible.
These grades can show parents, teachers, and future scholarships how a student progresses through school or a single class. An everyday student is in school for about 12-20 years, so progress can be shown in the widespread of time showing grades going up, down, or staying the same. Also, show if a student is exceeding in one subject over the rest or failing a certain subject, but passing the rest. Students can follow a GPA
As a student you are assessed everyday based off of almost anything; involving class participation and behavior to turning in assignments and taking exams. However, teachers don’t usually receive feedback or get assessed by their own students. It’s common for a student to be inclined to be the one to grade their teachers but, some students haven't been given the opportunity to. Students should be able to grade or assess their teachers because it provides incentive for the teacher, assists teachers to improve in areas where they could be lacking, and provides a proper evaluation of their teacher.
