Argumentative Essay on Grading System in Schools Should Be Abolished

📌Category: Education, Learning, School
📌Words: 776
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 06 February 2022

It’s the middle of the school year. You have been gone from school for almost 2 weeks because you are dealing with the death of a loved one. You come back to attending school hoping to get the stress of the past month off your mind, only to find out that you need to make up 4 tests, do 10 homework assignments, and read 5 chapters of a book. Then, you check your grade book and see you are now failing every class. Your stress has now been needlessly increased. Unfortunately, this issue can be the harsh reality of our current grading system. Students can get flooded to the brink of exhaustion with tests and other school work while trying to balance real-life issues. And the main reason students feel the need to stress over schoolwork is because of grades. Students work to get good grades to feel accomplished and productive. This idea can put students in a terrible mindset and an unhealthy work ethic. The current grading system in schools should be abolished because it is harmful to the health of students and impacts the way students comprehend the material they are taught.

The first reason why the grading system should be forgotten is that grades can damage a student’s mental health. I believe this because as a student, I have had many times where I am constantly thinking about how I can improve my grades. I feel as if I must have an A to “pass” the class. This ideology has put me in many bad mental states before and has made school a burden rather than something I look forward to. According to education reporter Amelia Harper, “Ditching traditional letter grades reduces stress levels and competition among students'' (Harper par. 1). This quote tells us that students are being put under unnecessary stress because of grades. Students are competing against each other to have a better grade instead of learning together. Next up, students have a harder time learning the material because of the grade book. We’ve all said or heard the infamous quote, “Is this going to be on the test”. While it seems silly at first, it is a sad reality because many students are only willing to learn and memorize things that they will be tested on because they think getting a good grade is more important than learning the material. According to an article published by think.org, “Grades force students to memorize those details necessary to pass a test, often disregarding true comprehension of the subject matter. In this process, the student’s personal development is becoming a footnote, overshadowed by the imperative significance of grades” (3 Reasons Grades Are Bad For Education par. 11). This quote shows that the grading system forces many students to only care and memorize material that they know will be on a test. Because they are so focused on only learning tested materials, it costs them the ability to fully understand the things that they are being taught. This shows that true understanding of concepts is secondary to letters that students see as crucial to their success.

Some others may disagree and argue that grades are a good way to keep students in check and make sure they get their work done on time. They think this way because they believe that students will be more motivated to do work and complete activities on time if they have a bad grade. The supporters of this idea could believe that the risk of having a low grade is beneficial to students so they know they have responsibilities. According to thebestschools.org, “Supporters argue that grades hold students accountable for their work, and provide a simple frame of reference for their standing in class” (Thompson par. 4). I disagree with this view because there doesn’t have to be a grading system to make students feel accountable for their work. A simple pass/fail system works just as well as a normal grading system. It still motivates students to keep up in class while also giving students breathing room and not having to worry about “their standing in the class”. Students shouldn’t need to know their “standing” in class because a grade does not properly resemble the student’s true ability to learn.

Overall, the grading system is no longer needed in schools. As a student, I get a first-hand look into how grades affect me and others. I know that I have had many instances where I get overwhelmed with school because of my grades. I overwork myself because I feel like I have to get a good grade to be successful. I also know many other people who struggle with school because once they see they have bad grades, they feel as if they might as well give up. We can all help this issue, however. We can attend school meetings and talk to higher-ups in the district about these issues. By supporting this cause, we can help so many who feel useless and lose interest in education based on a simple letter.

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