Learning for a Letter

Students sit at their desks, various binders and pens scattered across the surface. A smaller number than usual are doodling or daydreaming; a test is going to take place in a couple days, and the marking period will end in just a week. The teacher begins to explain how to arrive at an answer for a particularly difficult homework problem. A boy tentatively raises his hand, looking anxious. Once called on, he shyly asks if a question similar to this one will be on the upcoming test. The teacher replies that no, this was just a challenging problem he thought would be of interest. Almost immediately, the students’ eyes glaze over and they retreat into their inner world of daydreaming, feeling secure in the knowledge that they are not expected to know this and thus have no need to pay attention.

Later, the students flock around the teacher’s desk, earnestly requesting to see what their grade is so far, and how it will be affected if they get such-and-such grade on the test. As the teacher obliges, there are mixed reactions – groans, stricken faces, triumphant yells, broad smiles – but each is overwhelmingly out of proportion.

It is my opinion that the grading system should be eradicated for several reasons. If I may firstly point out, the original purpose of a grading system was to effectively determine a student’s knowledge, so that one may examine how one has been doing and improve as necessary. While I have no issues with the intended purpose, it is my perception that the grading system no longer fulfills that.

First and foremost, a student’s knowledge is not accurately judged by the current grading system. It’s controversial whether or not knowledge can be measured at all. Upon hearing that a test is to take place, the typical student begins to study, usually two or three days prior to the testing. Not only does this defeat the purpose of efficiently measuring how much has been learned, rather than crammed for in a given period of time, but also does not allow a student to retain this knowledge. I can speak from experience, as can my peers, that this occurs. It takes me at least a few minutes to recall an answer to a question from a test administered a few months ago, even if I performed well on it at that time, and I can scarcely remember even what topics were covered one or two years ago!

Not only is the grading system inefficient and unwieldy, it is hypocritical as well. Teachers hand out study guides and are always giving the so-called “free” assignments of the purpose of raising a grade, in addition to implementing certain grading systems, such as the “points system”, and demonstrating how they make your grade higher, as if it was all some sort of video game where you want the highest score. Students spend so much time stressing over their grade, not because they think they need to improve and aren’t learning well, but because of what their parents and peers will think and say. Does this all not strike you as ironic?

Finally, grades do not motivate students to learn, contrary to popular belief. Instead, it motivates one to cram more, if it motivates at all. You can not make a student learn if she or he does not want to. Even if a student genuinely makes a larger effort to truly learn, how much can really be gained when grades are the only incentive, as opposed to an urge to learn for the sake of learning?
The grading system may have worked in the past, but now, with its purpose distorted, it is no longer effective. It’s time to move on to a better system: no grades or tests, at least in the traditional sense. Lost in the flurry of grades, whatever happened to learning?