Schools use traditional grades such as homework, tests, and quizzes for many reasons and here is three of them, number one is they use traditional grading systems because that is just what they are use to, the second one is teachers can grade many items to determine what you have learned instead of just one simple grade, and the last one is the grades that a student may get are more accurate with more grades. If you have a bad grade you can use several other items to make that grade up unlike just one single grade where if you fail it you fail the class. A math professor by the name of harold osborne did some research on the subject and proved that 70% of students learned the items faster and more efficient with more grades and items to complete. Using several grades to determine if a students fails or not is way more efficient than just the one grade deciding their future. The traditional grading system is what most schools use and what they have always used and they should not change that to a new system that they would have to learn all over again. First, using a traditional grading system is what teachers have always used and have learned is efficient and doesn’t usually mess up. Teachers use it because they need to use something that they are use to using and something they know how to use efficiently. The traditional grading system is what most schools use and they do not need to change it any time soon. Grading is a process that needs to stay the same so that
In Brent Staples “Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s”, he claims that professors in colleges in the 1990’s are changing their grading on students assignments so much where that they are just passing out good grades when students don’t even deserve them. Colleges have started to change the whole grading system over the years just to make it look like the students are doing better. For example, “In some cases, campuswide averages have crept up from a C just 10 years ago to B-plus today” (Staples 1). There are many reasons as to why they day this.
Staples offers the solution that “To staunch inflation [of grades] is to change the way the grade point average is calculated” (Staples 937). He suggests that different classes should be calculated into a GPA at different levels. For example, harder science and math courses that many people steer clear of due to their difficulty, should have more opportunity to boost a student’s GPA than an easy general education class would (937). This idea might sound good on paper, but that would require every university to completely change their grading policy which not only would be time-consuming, but nearly impossible since there is virtually no way that leaders and the student body of a university would all agree on a completely new grading system. Plus, it might hinder students from being able to take classes that they actually enjoy and get a degree in a field they want to be in, not that they are forced to be in because of GPA factors.
Students leave school stressed and full of anxiety and its actually making a negative effect on their everyday life. Students get so overwhelmed that harming themselves is in the picture. The state needs to realize that students aren’t giving their 100% and they will never know their actual academic skills. So why give standardized test? Teachers need to focus on the future and teaching them skills they need in their everyday life.
1. Standardized tests are a reliable and objective way to measure student achievement. Multiple choice tests like the ACT and SAT are graded by machines and not subject to bias or subjectivity. Having to rely on scores from teachers is not as reliable as the teachers have a vested interest in producing favorable results. 1.
Machines grading seems like a good idea but lots of things can go wrong. Standardized tests are bringing down the education system in America. America’s ranking for education in the world down by about 15 notches. Big tests like these don’t leave a lot of room for learning about other subjects that are just as important as the ones on the test. Standardized tests are not able to measure all the aspects of what is being taught at school across the nation.
Farber believes that the grades create phony motivation and students only want to please the teachers. According to Farber, students only retain the material until they are graded on it. No longer having a grading system would leave students having no drive in school. Schools would no longer have a basic form of ranking the students and see how well they are doing. Students would no longer want to see the point in striving to be the best when everyone is ranked the same.
The SAT and ACT tests only check to see what vocabulary the student has and how quickly they can come up with the correct answer. The math sections just find out if the student is able to come up with the correct answer with the amount of time given. This causes serious concern due to the fact that students will not be on as much of a time crunch when they are doing their work for college classes, which are what these standardized tests are designed to predict. Because of this, it is not reasonable to assess a student’s abilities solely based off of their test
Some students do not score good on these tests, they may be nervous and fail or they do not score high enough. These standardized testing systems are no understatement. I used The
Kohn believes grading is a harmful thing for students because it is more of a game with competition. He views grading as something that does not lead to improvements in performance but holds students back from doing their best. He states, “A school’s ultimate mission, apparently, is not to help everyone learn but to rig the game so that there will always be losers” (Kohn 2). Kohn relates school and grading to a game. A game where students begin to try to outdo one another rather than focusing on their academics.
School’s are using standardized testing for the wrong reason. “A standardized test is any examination that’s administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests” (Popham, 1999). The most common examples of aptitude tests are the SAT and the
Imagine the United States in its near future: while a select few successful, affluent and influential people take power over the rest of the country and essentially control the way it operates domestically and internationally, the remainder of the population remains at a state comparable to the Great Depression in the 1930s, where unemployment rates are high, few unskilled jobs are available to the public, and the majority of urban residents are forced to rely on soup kitchens and live in shantytowns. The state of most United States schools today is absolutely atrocious, and should they continue to educate the modern generation of children and teens, a dystopian society is bound to arise in what is now considered one of the most powerful and
This is a benefit that would significantly help the students. Without it students may be struggling with a topic and the teachers are not even aware. By looking at the scores and talking with the previous teachers they can determine what might be the best way to teach the students. This leads to the next benefit, teachers can begin a new year knowing how much each student already knows. Knowing where each student lies is beneficial because the teacher is then able to focus
Schools in America take a test each year called the standardized test, which is a tool used to measure the effectiveness of the school, the teacher, and the performance of the student. However, “standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid- 1800s. Their use sky rocketed after 2002’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated annual testing in all 50 states” (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org.).
Should the Letter Grades System be Abolished? Ever get a bad grade on a test or assignment and think your life is over? Why does school become so stressful when all we worry about is percentages and letters on a report card? Consequently, what most educators don't realize is that many students focus more on their grades than learning and engaging in school.
Imagine your school switches to a different grading system and you have to do a long term project and present it instead of quizzes, test, and class work. Some schools are switching to the long term project grading instead of traditional grading. The long term grading makes it easier for teachers but, harder for the students. The students would have to work diligently all semester to get it done, and they would have to do it for each of their classes and then present it. Traditional grading is better than long-term project grading because you won't have as much work to do at once, you will be tested on the latest information, and your grade is based on everything in the class.