Changing The Grading System: Pass Or Fail System

Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, “Degrading to De-Grading”. The author suggests more effective ways to assess students’ progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, “I got a better grade than you!”. Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could make positive changes in the system.

School is slave labor. Rather than enjoying or learning from their classes, students are forced to do useless work that will often be forgotten immediately. Grades are meant to show much a student understands a class, but instead are used as a scale of how well a student can regurgitate answers onto a test. Students only work for good grades because of the threat of being punished for failure, and the promise of reward for passing. The punishments in this case are detention or trouble from teachers, and the rewards are making the honor roll or getting bragging rights. The real reward for learning should be having new knowledge, but this is not taken into consideration. Jerry Farber, a professor at U.S.D, made the strong claim that grades are useless and harmful in his essay, “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System.” I wholeheartedly agree with Farber’s objection to our current grading system.

I just watched a video on youtube titled "Blowing Up the Gradebook" by Chris Haskell and it left me with a lot of thoughts about the way grading works today. During the video, Haskell talks about the current problems with grading and teaching today. He says that instead of trying to find things worth knowing, students find what they need to pass the class and put in the minimal effort to do so. He says that education is a game we put students through and instead of trying to set them up for success, we give them tests and grades that set them up for failure. He says that instead of playing this game that is impossible to pass, we need to change it and help them succeed. He talks about how we need to eliminate homework and due dates, we

With the traditional grading system, grades are somewhat set in stone. Sure, a professor might have a little bit of wiggle room with grades, but more or less your grade is set. However, with the Plus/Minus system having 12 different levels, there is more room for more arguing between students and professors about grades. Tom Zorn, a finance professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, also agrees, “a plus/minus system means more students would be within a point or so of getting the next higher grade. That could lead to more conflicts between faculty and GPA-conscious students” (qtd. in “UNL may change”). Can you imagine all of the emails a professor will get requesting that he or she change a student’s grade from an A- to an A? This will lead to more unnecessary stress for both the student and the

It did not help me in the end because I never got to know the material and learn from it. If all schools were to lessen the grading system to just pass or fail classes, more students would most likely be able to become better learners and be able to focus more on their studies than trying to keep up a good grade.

If you got your classwork back, what would you rather hear, a C or a pass? I would rather hear a C because I know how well I am doing or know how much I need to improve. Many schools have switched from the traditional A-F grades to the new pass/fail grading system. Famous colleges have even adopted the pass or fail grading system, “Yale has adopted the pass or fail system, Harvard and Stanford followed suit” in the 21st century (Strittmatter). The reasons why we should keep the traditional letter grading system is students would get specific feedback from their grades, and letter grades promotes competitiveness.

In school, we can all agree that grades are important. They can help employers decide if they want to hire you, join various honors societies, and attract the graduate school of your choice. But there is also a disadvantage with grades as well. Grades can make you feel stressed and worried that your grades may not be good enough and you will be pressured to make a certain Grade Point Average. That’s when Pass/Fail grading system comes in. The Pass/Fail grading system means that instead of a letter grade, students will receive either a Pass or a Fail of a certain class. With that being, this leads to the most important question. Should letter grading systems be replaced with Pass/Fail grading systems? My answer is yes. Here are my three reasons

Of all the problems we have in our education system, grading is the most misunderstood. Alfie Kohn reinforces the idea that grades have a negative impact on students,in his essay from “Degrading to De-grading”, by stating that grades encourage students to take the “easy way”, by taking the least challenging courses. Another point Kohn makes is that students’ learning is negatively affected by grades because the students only recite the information for the test. After the teachers test the information the students just “learned”, the information becomes irrelevant to the student.The students quickly forgot the information and never really learn it. Not only do grades harm the student, but also the teacher. Grades harm

If they are not graded on that, then will not be able to see how those aspects of their education are necessary in the “real world”. This can also negatively affect their grades. Students that are good at regular assignments, but not good when it comes to tests, it could be a serious issue for them, as it will be harder to get their grades back up. Several teachers told parents that they wouldn’t award the highest number on the scale, or that extra work must be completed to earn 4s, leaving children confused on how to reach the advanced level of proficiency (See “Parents give standards-based grading scale F” ¶ ). Since students aren’t being graded on their classroom participation or homework completion, their grades can take a major downfall if they do make a big mistake, such as bomb a test, and they might not be able to make up for it by earning bonus points from extra credit either. If they do, then it would be a lot more work than it should be. Students who are “standards-based” graded will see their overall grade drop due to the system’s inability to evaluate all aspects of their education, as well as not being able to fully understand its methods.

If test scores mean so much, then why is a kid going to high school everyday trying to make good grades? High school grades should be looked at more because they are a better measurement of the student. High school grades reflect years of work, studies, and effort (Soares). When students look at their final average for the class, they know that more than one thing is calculated into that. With standardized testing, they know it is just one score.

Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child’s performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate the plus/minus system in their method of grading.

“... allows you to make your education truly yours without worrying about grade competition,” (http://connectusfund.org). A pass failing grading system is as simple as it sounds. It is a class system without letter grades and the stress that comes along with them. A student only has two options-- to pass or to fail. Usually a student with over a C will pass, and those with a D or F will fail the class. The pass fail system is the best type of grading system there is. The pass fail system leads to less stress and takes pressure off of students, which allows them to enjoy their work more and focus on their harder classes. It also, lets students know their

Schools use grading systems to communicate with students and parents about student performance. Grades also help teachers communicate with one another, providing easy-to-understand data about student performance. Grades are meant to be a concrete evaluation of student knowledge. Perhaps the best-known type of grading system uses letters---A, B, C, D or F---to represent student achievement. The 4.0-scale and mastery grading are two other types of grading systems.

Implementing new grade system won’t automatically help to reduce significant amount of stress students have. If there are only pass and fail in the class,

Because of switch, the overall result will decrease students’ stress levels. As of right now, students are overwhelmed with school and the plentiful amount of work. “On average, teens reported their stress level was 5.8 on a 10-point scale, compared with 5.1 for adults” (NBC). This is extremely unhealthy, as a major part of that stress comes from school. On top of school, students also have sports, clubs, and social media that hang over their heads, too. In a survey, “ 34 percent said they expected their stress level would rise in coming year” (NBC). With that, students are most likely worried about getting good letter grades like all A’s. In result, the number system would benefit students by giving them accurate grades, getting some stress off of their shoulders, and making them accept the well-deserved grades they get.