Flaws Of The Grading System

Any student asked will tell of a time that their grade on a test did not match their knowledge of the material. Maybe they guessed on the entire test and still scored highly or, on the contrary, studied for weeks for their final exam until they knew the material as well as they could, and still failed. In an education system that relies on grades to communicate how well one knows the material, many are not fairly represented. In high school, grades are important because they prove to admissions teams at colleges that an applicant understands the material taught to them. Yet, every student that can remember a time the grading system failed them, is not fairly represented. This inequity distresses students because they know that no matter

Condition outside of a student’s control, such as a family’s income, have a large impact on a student’s grades. Students in low-income households receive significantly lower grades than those in middle and upper-class households. This is because students in low-income households are less-likely to develop cognitive skills essential for the classroom (Sacks). Despite many of these students thoroughly understanding the material, they do not have the support and resources outside of the classroom to demonstrate the knowledge in a way that earns them high grades. Even if some of these low-income students do not have a full understanding of the material, this is often out of their control due to underdeveloped cognitive skills. This disparity does not end with grades. In 2012, a study done by the National Center for Education Statistics found that while only 0.6% of students in high-income families dropout, nearly 5% of students in low-income families end up dropping out (“Trends in High School Dropout”). Many factors go into this high dropout rate such as children in the workforce and drug abuse, conversely, when these children are in school, they are likely to receive shame from their classmates and teachers because of their academic performance. Instead of offering solutions, the low grades put more stress on students who already worry about where their next meal

Regardless, it can assure students that their grades truly are the best representations of themselves which will decrease academic stress. Some feel that there is no need for a new grading system since the current one accurately evaluates the effort put in by each student. This claim is incorrect. Every student can remember a time that he or she personally or one of his or her friends put a lot of effort into a class or an assignment and, unfortunately, still received a low score. If grades were truly an accurate measure of the time and energy put into an assignment, then any time that a student spent hours studying for a test or working on a project, the student would receive a high score. If effort is not evaluated, there is no motivation for students to consider new studying habits that can help them in the future. Due to constant grade inflation and the disparity between students because of factors outside of their control, the grading system does not fairly evaluate students and causes them unnecessary stress. Creating a new grading system that assesses students on their dedication to a class and application of the material will lead to more-accurate grades and more-successful college students. Unfortunately, this new grading system would be difficult to implement and could not happen immediately. Individual schools would have to adopt the system and report results before