Why We Should Effort Be Included In A Student's Grade

Should effort be included in a student's grade?

Do you agree with the way you get graded? Many students and teachers have differing opinions. Some people believe that only effort should be graded while others believe that effort is the only skill that should be assessed. Some schools are starting to take the ideas into effect. Benedict College grades on a mixture of effort and achievement while Lincoln Elementary grades only on mastery. Although many believe that grading only on mastery is the best, effort and mastery are essential to accurately represent a student's grade, because students learn in many different ways and because grading effort gives a lot more students opportunities to learn.

Firstly, grading should be based on understanding

When a student fails or makes a mistake, they tend to feel like giving up and quitting. Grading with effort and achievement can help give students a safety net or a boost of confidence. Swinton, the principal at Benedict college, notes in his letter, “Many disadvantaged students have not learned to believe in the efficacy of their own efforts. The earlier lack of success in schools of this nation has not developed in the habits of study and persistence that are essential to college success. This policy is designed to assure them that making their maximum efforts will pay off, thereby, encourages them to persist to the end despite any early setbacks,”(Swinton, 2016). Knowing that your effort is being accounted for can give low-achieving students a boost of confidence, although they may not know everything, they may feel better about themselves because they achieved something. Grading just effort can create false hope for students when they enter the real world. When a student begins to apply for jobs or for college they are going to learn that just because you may put a lot of effort into something doesn’t mean that they are guaranteed to succeed, there isn’t going to be someone kindly guiding them along the way as they grow up. Grading fully on achievements gives students the impression that mastery is more important than anything else. mastery is very important but if a

Becky Stevenson, an English teacher, follows the new program of grading just on mastery states, “her students used to worry about getting good grades. Now they just want to learn,”(Cordie, 2016). This quote talks about how grading on achievement allows students to learn without worrying about good grades. It is great that her students are wanting to learn but why did removing effort make them want to learn more? Why aren’t grades valued as much? David Holmes Swinton, the president of Benedict College, mentions in his open letter that “...although it may not be true that effort guarantees learning, it is absolutely true that learning cannot occur without effort,” (Swinton, 2016). Swinton talks about how effort may not constitute learning but it is essential to learn, it is impossible to learn without exerting any effort. Which brings up the question why are Becky’s students less worried about their grades? Learning still needs effort so removing effort in students grades seems like a waste. If a student were to make one mistake on a test that would greatly affect their grade. Grading with effort gives students the opportunity to fix their mistakes. Becky’s students should still be concerned about their grades because grades are still important, the grades you get in school help set you up for a good college