Importance of Grades

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The Importance of Grading While learning to tie shoes, children get encouragement and feedback when they first start. No one assesses their progress, they just try to help them learn to do it on their own. People learn things all the time without being graded or ranked, so where does the obsession with grades in school come from? Some would argue that not grading students on assignments they have completed will improve the quality of learning, while others believe it gives students the option to opt-out of somethings they may find more difficult. Others believe that grades predetermine how successful one may be in a post-secondary setting. Although, the problem with grading is that it is subjective to many outside inflences such as conflicting personalities, favouritism and difference in marking styles. All students learn differently as all teachers mark differently. By abolishing marks, are we setting up more students for failure or for success? The first issue with abolishing the grading system, is that people believe that most students will become even more lazy and less motivated to do work and learn. People are competitive by nature, if there is no reward for one's efforts, they may choose not to do the assigned work. On the other hand, the students who are already high achievers may find they learn better when they get feedback and actually try to learn new things, instead of trying to figure out how your teacher works in order to recieve a number. By not grading, students would be more focused on the task at hand and learning something new, rather than trying to figure out what the teacher wants, or picking easier projects, to scrape every last meaningless mark out of the assignment. If you are not learning, then what is the point in doing the work anyways? This may cause some division within the classroom and may give rise to new difficulties or even conflict amongst those people. If there is no aspiration to learn, school becomes monotonous and almost pointless, but then how do we measure how qualified a person may be to do a specific job? The second issue that arises with taking grades out of schooling, is how practical it is. Almost everything in education is set up to go along with the current grading system. To change it would be to change the entire education system, and some believe it is not worth it. With no indication of how well a student is able to learn new material, would make it harder for school administrators to determine who is qualified for certain programs, or for companies to determine who has the correct skill set for the job. With the way our education prepares us for the way society functions, it is hard to imagine it without some sort of standard, even if that standard is subjective. Although the thought of removing grades gives way to some problems, it is not to say that the current grading system is without fault. The current grading system is convoluted by outside opinions and experience. As no two people are the same, teachers do not mark or teach the same way. How do you know if one person is more qualified based solely on marks if one person had a much easier teacher than the other. If marks were more objective, there was a true standard and all teachers marked the same, the grading system may be a better tool to measure learning by. If a system with and objective standard was attained, while some assignments were assigned for just practice and not for marks, we may be closer to a point where students are learning better and there is still a way to track their progress. Some of life's greatest lessons have not been graded or assessed. While the function or a grade is practical and sometimes useful, school should be more focused on the aspiration to learn rather than the number on a piece of paper. Sometimes students need feedback and communication to learn or to improve on their skills, instead of getting a number, indicating whether or not they achieved a provincial standard. Is it time to change the education system, or are we making things too easy for students. Sometimes you have to do things you do not enjoy, like school work, but in the end, whether it is graded or not, it will only be beneficial to you if you try your hardest.