The educational system is a set of different activities which are aimed to teach the people. In order to be sure that the material was understood or learnt, the evaluation process is used. The evaluation can be done in multiple ways; however, the main point is to achieve the objective picture of knowledge the student has received. In order to build this picture more or less similar, teachers needed to develop a system which would be comprehensive for everyone. This is why, in my opinion, grades were introduced as an equivalent of what is written in the student’s work. The scores could be in numbers or letters, have different scales and meanings. Nevertheless, it is a universal language which is spoken inside the educational system. Grades are somehow the way teachers communicate with students, putting them on levels according to their achievements, motivating to move further.
The whole educational system is built on the necessity of gaining certain score in order to pass from one institution to another. The quality of this approach is questioned by people who regard grades as de-motivating and discriminating evaluation approach. However, this system has a long history and is dominating in our society till nowadays. It means that it actually works and can be used further.
Regarding all these aspects, I state that the grading system is the most efficient and convenient way to evaluate student’s work. In this paper we will examine the importance of grades in the educational system and discuss them from different points of view, following by examples.
One of the most important functions of grades is that they are setting goals for students. When a student receives a certain score, he or she understands what is the result of the working process and whereas it is good or not. Of course, from time to time people tend to get bad marks and it can be frustrating for them, but this is how they get to know there is a need to work harder. Why are grades used to set a goal for a student?
Today, in order to accomplish the whole path of the educational system from schools to colleges and universities, students need to achieve a certain level of knowledge and prove that they are able to move from one institution to another by obtaining a high score. This is the main principle of the educational system: a person study and then gets an evaluation through the grade. Here the grade is an objective but the knowledge is the way to achieve it. In my opinion, it is how this system is aimed to work.
The negative side of this type of goal setting can be the fact that while students are following the highest grades they can actually lower their educational potential. Students who are interested in getting good marks tend to find the easiest ways in order to achieve them. For example, they would rather choose the easiest assignment and not to spoil their grade while trying to accomplish the harder one . It is not a sign that they are actually not able to solve the hard task, but this scare of getting the lower score stops them to take a challenge. Another problem is that the overall motivation can decrease because of grade as the unique motivational factor of studying . In the end, students can get so addicted to grades, that it can make them incapable of working the other way it will negatively influence their whole system of studying.
The second function of the grading system is its capacity to create a competitive environment for the students. If we take a grade as a simple number or letter, it can be compared only with the highest available score. Of course, it is motivating to achieve the highest option; however, not all students would be interested in this. On the other hand, as soon as we put the score in the range of all scores that students have obtained, the situation is changing. People tend to compare themselves with others and this is why they would struggle not to be the worst according to their grades. When students have a possibility to see their evaluation not simply as their personal one but in comparison with others, they can see the wider picture of the studying process.
In my opinion, competition is an important condition for learning because it challenges us to struggle for more. This means, that in order to achieve a better result than a classmate, the individual should learn and process more information. The more information people are learning, the higher their level becomes and this represents the main scheme of the educational process. Sometimes in order to see how this competition works, teachers are setting up mind battles between students or encourage the most efficient student with some sort of benefit. These motivational factors are keeping students in tonus and do not let them give up during the semester.
The negative point here is that this competitiveness can be harmful to the relations between students . When people are placed under conditions of the eternal race for the highest score, they start to quarrel with each other. Moreover, it creates a stressful situation which is uncomfortable to study in and even bad for mental and physical health. There were a lot of stories when after our classes with such mind battles we were still angry with each other. The main point here is that it is hard to separate the basic interaction in everyday relations and these struggles for the first place in the class. All in all, it leaves a negative mark on students’ communication with each other. The last but not the least counter argument as that sometimes the way students will win the educational competition is not fair. When they understand that the winning is important for them but is not achievable through the simple learning, students start to cheat .
Grades are important for all the actors involved in the educational process. Teachers need them as well because grades are building a structure for them. How can it be explained? We all should consider the fact that all teachers are different because they use different approaches and methods of education. Moreover, they are working on different levels of the system: beginning with the kinder garden or primary schools until the universities. They are specialized in different domains and various subjects. Nevertheless, their common goal is to teach their students and be sure that they have done it in a good and efficient way.
Grades help teachers not only to communicate with their students but to be able to understand other teachers and professors. All these symbols are serving them to understand how they work. Each grade, no matter is it a letter or a number indicates certain hidden sense which is, however, tells us about students capacities. Some people argue, that it is not true and that grades are speechless when it comes to the description of student’s abilities , but I will not agree. It is true that grades are not telling much. However, I support the idea that all sighs of grades should be supported with a comment from the teacher which will explain why the score is like this. Moreover, simply grades are still telling whereas the student work is good or not. The further interpretations of these terms are between teachers and students.
It is important that grades are creating a certain system with rules and all sides of educational process should obey them. For example, if the maximum score is 100, it means that there is no option to put more than that or grade work with a letter. Despite the fact that teachers are different, they are obliged to work under the same condition of this rule and evaluate their students accordingly. It is said that grading can take away teachers time , however, I believe that it is still much less amount if they were writing full feedbacks or evaluating in their own methods. If we imagined the world where teachers are grading their students how do they want, or just with the help of words in feedbacks, it would result in complete confusion of the system.
The counter argument here is that teachers are really different and this makes them unique and hard to make a homogenous structure. Even inside the grading system they can show their diversity. For example, one teacher will never put the highest mark because he or she believes that this score stands for some standard which cannot be achieved. These differences also could be seen on the levels of educational systems. Personally, I have been in such situation during my studies when getting “B” was almost equal to “A” because the professor was so strict in judgments. Unfortunately this example is not unique and usually, it ruins the principles of the system and it is unfair. Moreover, such situations could result in ruining relations between students and their teachers . There are a lot of personal factors which are influencing the grade and I believe that it is not right. The system of grading was built to bring the actors together and create a comfortable homogenous environment for studying and not to diversify it.
The grades are aimed to make the system fair. When people are getting a certain note it means that they deserved it and it corresponds to their level of knowledge and capacities. A grade is something which is hard to challenge. Some people would probably see it as a negative point. In my opinion, it makes it clearly for others to understand. For example, if people were able to enter the college based on their reference letter from the school professor, this would be unfair. First of all, because when teachers are evaluating students they make it differently. Secondly, words are more disputable than a sign which clearly states for some level of knowledge.
The grading system is a chance to have an equal right for every student to perform himself and prove that he or she is capable and knowing. When the equal conditions for the competition are set up, this makes this competition fair. I regard grades not as a goal of learning but as a useful tool which helps to move forward. The students can argue whereas their notes are fair or not but the fact is, that they get what they deserve and I believe it is fair. The evaluation with the help of grades is needed and people cannot simply refuse the system because they do not like it. They should change it and develop whereas there is a problem.
It is true, however, that all grades are subjective and not very reliable . No matter how we try to make the system function in the same way, there will always be differences and misunderstandings. The fair system is where students are actually learning to get a high score. In another way it all turns into chase for a good grade and can be followed by cheating, decreasing of motivation to study and ruining relations between teachers, students and even their parents . We all should agree that if we limit the grading system till these conditions, there should be urgent changes to stop it and improve the situation.
In conclusion, we can see that grading system stays the most powerful and dominating in modern education. It is easy to use and interpret when it is made in a fair and right way. With the help of it students are encouraged to work harder, be able to compete with their peers and progress quicker. The grades are helping teachers to be united in order to achieve their main goal – teach their students. Moreover, this system serves a platform for communication between different actors of the educational system. Behind each letter and number, the whole explanation should be revealed. The right reading and understanding of these signs should make teachers and students cooperate and create a bound which will help both sides to learn more.
It is true that despite the fact that the grading system was created to facilitate the educational process there are still debatable issues which are hard to solve. The main problem is the subjectivity of grades and their perception by students, teachers and parents. It is hard to say whereas these problems could be solved by canceling the grading system. In my opinion, it should be modified in order to achieve a new balance between studying for grades and for the knowledge. These goals are not mutually exclusive and it means that educational system needs to work on their connection.
Reference
Kohn, A. (1999). From Degrading to De-Grading. HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE , 1-11.
