Argumentative Essay Sample: Why We Should Keep Letter Grades
Is it fair for a student to put in hours of hard work to get 96% in a class, but for another student that got a 60% to get the same grade? With “pass” or "fail" grading, this would become a reality, hard-working students would no longer be able to outperform lower-achieving students. Students with all As would be looked at the same as other students with Bs and Cs. Letter grades should not be replaced with a “pass” or “fail” because it takes away the competition between students to be the best, it changes the system already put in place, and it limits differentiation in students.
Firstly, a student’s ambition can come from a number of things, but one common cause is the competition between their peers. If this competition were to be removed, there would be no incentive to keep grades as high as possible. Students would no longer need to get scores in the 90s and could barely get over 60% to get the pass on their report cards. This lack of trying would affect the learning environment as well. Without students trying to get the highest possible score on a test or essay, they would no longer have to pay attention in class. By replacing letter grades with “pass” or “fail,” competition will decline, therefore making students' overall effort in school will drop.
Furthermore, the letter grading system has been around for over 100 years (Lassahn 20), so to change the entire grading system would be a total reconstruction of it from the ground up. Implementing the pass or fail grading system would be a complex task because some students have already gone through a couple of school years with the letter system. Changing the grading system complicates whether or not those years of school would count or not, and would cause further confusion when applying to colleges or other programs. Changing the grading system to a “pass” or “fail” would also cause controversies, many parents and students would not favor this change and could protest for this to be reverted. To change a grading system this much, would be a monumental task that would not be worth the time and effort put into it.
Lastly, when looking at a good student, the first thing most people would look for is how good their grades are, but with “pass” or “fail” grading, this statistic would no longer be there. Thus when evaluating a student’s performance, one cannot use any of the information about how they did in their classes because all of their grades would be “pass” or “fail”. The only way one may differentiate oneself is by doing many extracurricular activities. One may argue that this way is better because students have to worry less about school and can do more activities, but this defeats the purpose of school, which is to learn about your subjects and learn them well. By changing the grading system to “pass” or “fail”, students will have a difficult time being noticed.
In conclusion, letter grades should not be replaced with “pass” or “fail” because it lowers the effort of students in school, it requires an extensive reworking of a system more than a century old, and it makes it harder for students to be noticed academically. Changing the grading system to “pass” or “fail” will lower students’ willingness to learn and score high on their exams, as well as cause backlash from people that don’t agree with the system. This new system would also make it harder for students to stand out from their peers. Although the letter grading system may not be perfect, it is substantially better than any “pass” or “fail” grading system.
