Why Can T Everyone Get A's By Alfie Kohn Summary

School is something some children enjoy, but as grades begin to factor in they lose their love for school through trying to fight to make it through. They have to have a certain percentage and letter grade to pass a class and because of that, they begin to focus more on what they need to do in order to achieve that than their actual education and understanding of the concepts. Grades have begun to increase over the years. Does that mean schooling has become too easy? In “Why Can’t Everyone Get A’s” by Alfie Kohn, he questions the system of grading and standards and the individuals, such as politicians, businessmen, and sometimes even the media, in charge of setting them. Grade inflation is something he doesn’t seem to view as a problem. He

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. It begins to create tension within the classroom and does not focus students on their learning. Kohn believes grades themself create competition and Susan Blum, author of “Ungrading” by Susan Blum, agrees, believing that students treat college as a game. Games are usually thought of as something to get away from the stress of daily life. Blum believes that “Games are fun, but if the goal is amassing points and winning at any price, then game is the wrong model for college- at least if learning, not just winning, is the goal” (Blum 3). She thinks that students view cheating, shortcuts, and cramming as okay because to them school is a game in order to get the best grades. Learning should be the goal for all students but it isn’t because of the pressure to get A’s and B’s which many students view as good grades. Once grades go below a C, students don’t seem to care as long as they pass. Games usually are a good thing but here both Kohn and Blum believe the school should be doing something different so that school and grades aren’t seen as games and begin to encourage the students to focus more on their