Traditional Grading System in America Free Essay Sample

When defining what the traditional grading system is in America, it all comes down to this: students are required to obtain and retain a certain amount of information in a given period of time, and later are assessed on this information which can result in them doing either well or poorly on; there is no in between. This scale, which has not been changed or modified significantly since its origins, serves as a hindrance for student growth rather than an opportunity for students to self-reflect and make improvements. If all a student sees is a bad grade on their report card after a test or exam, there is no way for them to further develop their understanding of that topic. The article, “How I Revamped My Grading System” by Michelle Vanhala, suggests an alternative way to assess students that allows for teachers to see where students struggle and provide the most help in that topic, called “learning goals”. If different methods of teaching are introduced to professors, students would experience less amounts of stress and would focus more on retaining the information.

Students’ ability to absorb and retain information has been overlooked by their ability to take tests and perform well in today’s grading system. This issue, which is something that has been ongoing for a considerable amount of time, might just be the downfall of their learning capabilities. This traditional way of ranking can have a long term effect on their educational outlooks, especially for students whose primary focus is earning an acceptable grade rather than retaining the information. Research that was conducted to establish whether this grading system is actually effective proved why it needs to be updated. In the article “Exploring Ways to Say So Long to Traditional Letter Grades” the author Madeline Will says, 

A body of research has found that grades tend to reduce students’ interest in learning. Anecdotally, teachers who shifted away from the traditional A-F grading system say that after some implementation bumps, their students seemed to be more engaged in the subject material. They take more ownership of their learning. And they stop asking the dreaded question: “What do I need to do to get an A?” (“Exploring Ways to Say So Long to Traditional Letter Grades”)

In addition to this, professors are required to give a numerical value to assignments that may not be suitable for that type of grade. This grading practice also does not allow any leeway when it comes to students who do not turn in assignments on time. In the article “What’s Wrong with Grading This Year? The Same Things That are Wrong Every Year”  Scott Marion writes, “These programs also force teachers to give numerical scores for essentially every assignment, which limits any potential formative use and exacerbates the zero problem” (Marion). By giving a student a zero by default when an assignment is not turned in, it results in unmotivated students and futile attempts on future assignments.

It has been so ingrained into students’ minds that in order to be successful in life, they have to earn what are deemed as “good grades” so they can get accepted into college and study efficiently, the end goal being they get a stable job and earn sufficient money. So much so, that it has become less about what students have learned and more about passing their exams. There are numerous methods that could be used in place of this accustomed grading system. For example, a teacher by the name of Michelle Vanhala drafted her own “Student Bill of Rights”, one of which included, “Mistakes are an opportunity to learn, and everyone learns at different paces and in different ways. Students should therefore be allowed multiple opportunities to practice and demonstrate learning of clearly communicated learning objectives”(Vanhala). Vanhala goes on to explain how she saw a change in her students’ attitudes towards learning after she introduced “learning goals”. These goals would ultimately score students based on their performance on a cumulative assessment. If a student scored well on one section of the assessment and poorly on another section, it became easier for the professor to identify where the most help was needed. A “failing” grade was never permanent in this structure of grading, which gave students the opportunity to improve on their skills in a particular area rather than moving on from a poor grade. 

Another example of this is in the article “Exploring Ways to Say So Long to Traditional Letter Grades” by Madeline Will, where a teacher at Pascack Hills High School in Montvale, NJ, used her own method of teaching which was favored by many students because it did not hold them to the same standards as the conventional one did. A junior by the name of Jayden Sullivan said, “I feel like I’m learning a lot more than I would if there was a grade attached to each assignment. I’m trying to find the answer rather than worrying about if it’s right or wrong” (Will). These diverse approaches of grading that both of these teachers used are crucial for the improvement of the current grading practices.

This issue of grading has not been corrected or even addressed in the past because it is believed by many that it offers consistency and fairness among the students. While this may be true, not everyone’s brain is wired the same way. In other words; it may take longer for some students to grasp certain concepts than others. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses academically and should therefore be provided with the most aid in the areas of study which they struggle with the most. The A-F grading system does not allow for this  because students are not given the opportunity to redeem themselves if they perform poorly on a test or assessment. There are multiple ways a teacher can avoid using this scale, and there does not have to be one set alternative method either. The goal of them is to ditch the scale all together to create a more of a stress free system while still achieving an academic focused way of learning. In the article “Exploring Ways to Say So Long to Traditional Letter Grades”, Madeline Will writes, “While these approaches vary, the educators who experiment with grades have a common rationale: The traditional A-F system doesn't inspire students to learn for the sake of learning”(Will). For the sake of future generations of students, these traditional methods must be updated to account for the variety of ways students can absorb information. 

The traditional method of grading is outdated and prevents students from fulfilling their full academic potential. For students to be assessed on information that determines their success in the future is a biased and an unfair way to analyze their academic capabilities. Not every student is going to absorb and learn information the same, and to assess them as such is unreasonable. Public schools from all around the country have to reevaluate their teaching methods and make changes accordingly so that the future generations of students can focus on learning and retaining instead of memorizing information. Providing students with a variety of ways they are graded will be a refreshing change and a beneficial way to prepare them for the real world.