1st Peruasive essay

New Nationwide Grading System

            When you get back an assignment you worked really hard on and it has an F on it how do you feel? Probably like you wasted your time and that you should just give up on ever passing the class. And who’s to blame you for feeling like this? How else should you feel after trying your best on, lets say an essay, and you still fail? Saying “Try harder next time” doesn’t help either, because you did try your hardest but it just wasn’t up to par. School should be a learning environment where students feel comfortable, not a dreaded place where you are being marred with fails or passes. I think the grading system shouldn’t be one of grades per say, but one of regular written and oral evaluations to determine your learning process.

            In my opinion schools nationwide need to reform their grading scale. Children of this generation are going through so much more than those of previous generations, and the old school “fail” or “pass” system is doing more harm than good to us. For instance with all the pressures of dropping out of school do you think receiving a big, fat, red F on an assignment is going to work for or against a student deciding whether to stay in or quit school? The current grading system is just, to put it in laymen’s terms, to old. Think about it, it was invented back in the day where school and life were much simpler. The complexity of this era is just too vast for a plain A, B, C, D or F; there are too many gray areas that need to be accounted for now a days.

            Another reason the current rubric is in need of reformation is because all students don’t learn and process information the same way. In saying this how can it be expected to be able to accurately grade them on a universal scale? If a student is a verbal learner and you respect that and teach him with that in mind, what sense does it make to give him a written test and then expect him to do well? None, right? I understand the importance of teaching adjustability and instilling that you aren’t always going to be able to have things presented in your favor, but this system is setting children up for failure I believe.

            Also just think of what these grades do to student’s confidence. We all know if you get an F on something your obviously going to be upset and slightly depressed depending on how much effort you put into the assignment, but what about the “A students”. When you are used to pulling A’s all the time what happens when you drop? When you go from an average of A’s to a C or D or God forbid F, it really, really hurts. And depending upon the student, a drop like that can even be detrimental to their physical or mental health. Now, I’m not saying students shouldn’t strive for the best, but when you are labeled an A student and you mess up and receive a lower grade it can be a serious issue.

            In closing I would like to reiterate that the present grading scheme puts an unneeded pressure on students to get A’s or be flawed as a failure. It takes away from actually learning the material and puts more emphasis on receiving an A. What’s the point of having a grading system to measure students learning if they aren’t really learning anymore?