I have been debating the issue of the the importance of grades with other educators in both high school and university for about two years now. And it still continues...
Are grades all that important? They are just letters assigned to assignments, test or projects that reflect a one time occurrence.
Where does actual learning come into play. Any average-skilled cheater can achieve A's or B's in class and learn very little but how to cheat a little bit better.
Is learning important to students at all or is school all about grades. I understand that GPA and class rank, ACT and SAT scores, and other grade related information are important, but shouldn't the emphasis be on what students have learned and how they can use that learning.
What good is an A in calculus if you haven't learned the skills needed to pass a college algebra course. It is not hard to get an A-. With a little skill, help from the teacher or classmates and some effort, anyone can do it. But it is the application of those supposedly learned skills that really brings the learning done to light.
Colleges and universities must now offer remedial classes to get high school students caught up in the skills that are lacking, especially in math, reading and writing. How can a student who received a B in writing courses in high school, need remedial classes when in college. Were is the learning that was supposed to take place? With grade inflation and watered-down curriculum, no wonder learning is not occurring.
I realize that change must begin from the top (the real work world and then colleges) and trickle down, but when will that happen? Is the education world so caught up in NCLB legislation and teaching to the test that we have forgotten about real learning? I am afraid that this debate will be around long after I have left the teaching world.. How sad!!!!
16 comments:
Well, Mrs. Hansen I believe that no a letter isn't that important. Yes, I do whatever it takes to get that A on my paper and will do as much extra credit that is offered to maintain my grade. In my family however, my parents were unable to make their kids strive for good grades until I came along, and they are constantly nagging me about my grades. My mom wants me to be a doctor, as if, and my dad couldn't care less what I want to be, but just as long as I don't get too many B's on my report card. I mean, God forbid, I have had four B's maybe throughout my entire high school career, and they have a total cow about. Anyways, I do believe that learning is much more important than getting the highest grade in the class. Some people get B's, but learned more than the person who knows what to do, but is just too lazy to do it, and just cheats his or her way through school. I think that colleges should not only look at their transcript of grades and classes they took, but also they should take an entry exam into whatever major he or she plans to major in.
I believe that grades are just letters that don't really symbolize anything. There are some kids that cheat on every assignment and even manage to cheat on tests, and they have an A in the class with little or no effort. Students are always trying to receive a better grade so they cheat to receive it, but I think you should learn only if you want and are willing to do the work to learn it. So letter grades may mean something to some people, but to others it is just something they do because they are told they have to by someone.
When it comes to the importance of good grades, I believe that it just matters on the opinion of the person receiving the grade. Some people want to receive the highest grades they can, while others could care less if they get an A or an F. I think that parents sometimes put alot of pressure on their kids to get good grades, which makes them do anything possible to get an A. But getting an A doesn't always mean you're smarter than the average student, it just means you're willing to do anything to receive the high grade, even if that means cheating. Even if you are a straight A student, doesn't mean that youll test better than a B or C student. In fact, B average students sometimes do better than a straight A student on the ACTs. It all comes down to whether you learned the material or not. You may cheat all the time, but what do you do when you get to the test or the quiz? I guarentee charma will come back to get you and you won't do half as good as you could of if you had actually done the work.
When it comes to the importance of good grades, I believe that it just matters on the opinion of the person receiving the grade. Some people want to receive the highest grades they can, while others could care less if they get an A or an F. I think that parents sometimes put alot of pressure on their kids to get good grades, which makes them do anything possible to get an A. But getting an A doesn't always mean you're smarter than the average student, it just means you're willing to do anything to receive the high grade, even if that means cheating. Even if you are a straight A student, doesn't mean that youll test better than a B or C student. In fact, B average students sometimes do better than a straight A student on the ACTs. It all comes down to whether you learned the material or not. You may cheat all the time, but what do you do when you get to the test or the quiz? I guarentee charma will come back to get you and you won't do half as good as you could of if you had actually done the work.
I believe that grades are just a letter. Some people learn much more but at a slower rate. Many people cheat their way threw school and they don't actually earn their grade whereas you work to learn. If you don't do your own work you won't learn. I know that grades are important to my parents and myself, but i feel it is more important if you understand and learn what people are teaching you.
OK...I think that in school, grades are important only because that is how we pass. In reality, a grade means nothing because the grade can easily be abtained by cheating which essentially makes grades pointless and unnecessary. But I don't think that we should just focus on tests because some students have test anxiety and have a difficult time with them, even if they are actually learning the material.I know that I don't always abtain the information that I have learned, but sometimes I just need to check up on past stuff or go over it a few times. But we are all different; some people just have difficulty learning and it is unfortunate for them. Some people also just learn information on subjects that they are interested in, and just cheat or get by with the other information to keep moving on with their high school/college career. I don't think that we will ever be advanced in the learning department, especially with all of the new technology that comes out because it makes everything easy to find out. One can look up anything on Google or a search engine like that and find out what they need to know for the time being...
I think that grades are very important. I am one of those people who will stay up until 1:00 A.M. doing homework just to ensure that my transcript remains absolutely perfect, but most of what I learn is lost after the test because I work so hard to do well at what the class is working on learning at the present moment that I immediately forget what I just spent so much effort learning. I get straight A's, but one of my friends who gets a B average often times retains the material better and can use it in everyday life with more ease and efficiency than myself. I do consider myself to be relatively "smart," and if I had time to review the material, I could maybe tell you what I learned at the beginning of the year, or even last year, but I can't guarantee that I could do any of it very well.
Unlike the others, I do believe that grades are important. We will graded in everything we do throughout life. From school to sports to our jobs later, we will be graded in everything we do. In my opinion, the ones who do get the A's are the ones doing the work. Even if a cheater gets all A's on homework, when they get to the test, they wont know what to do then and probably fail.
I think grades are important because that is what people look at when you are applying for scholarships and collages. They even dictate whether you will graduate or not. I think that they make some people try harder in school. They also provide an ease of mind. Would you want an A average doctor or pilot, or a C average doctor or pilot? On the other hand, I guess the grades don't really matter as long as you know the material. It won't help you later in collage if you just cheat or slack your way through high school, though.
I think that so many students are so caught up in the grading scale and trying to get that A on a paper, that they end up doing the wrong thing, and cheating. We go to school to learn and to prepare us for our future career. How are we supposed to learn when we are so caught up in doing anything we can to achieve that A. If grades weren't that important or made up to be such a big deal, I believe that a lot more students would try to learn the material, rather than get the grade on the paper.
I do believe that the letters you get on your report card are becoming way more important than what you’ve learned. I know this firsthand because my parents freak out if I get a B on my report card. They don’t ask me what I learn they just care about the A’s I get on my report card, and I’ve started to believe the same thing. I’m not going to lie, I’ll do whatever it takes and I’ll do all the extra credit to get an A in all my classes. I’ve cheated before to get good grades, but everybody has. It’s not right to do, but most kids don’t want to have to deal with their parents yelling at them and grounding them if they’d get a B or whatever is called a “bad grade.” I agree with Brooke that colleges need to have an entry exam for all kids going into a major to make the kids prove they’ve learned something.
Kids get punished for having bad grades and rewarded for having good grades, but does that mean they are learning? Students that have good grades might not learn anything; they might do whatever it takes for an "A". What will those grades really do for us in the real world? Will they get us our job? Will they give us money? You might get a job because your boss knows your grades, but what if they didn't learn anything. The boss won’t hesitate to fire them.
In all a letter shouldn't control our high school career but for some it does.
Well, grades are important and I do believe that we need to keep track of our studies, but the kids that cheat on tests and on homework aren't getting themselves anywhere. They will always cheat through life, and won't ever understand how to accomplish things themselves. My parents don't push me to get straight A's, but they do push me enough to get 'good grades', and if I don't there are consequences. I push myself to get the straight A's, and I'm very upset when I don't, so yes, grades are very important.
As far as grading goes, I believe it is important because it teaches kids to work hard and apply themselves in school. Even so, I don't believe that grades are the only means of evaluating a student. For example, I know many students who produce better grades than me, but yet I still know more common knowledge and Iam better informed on many topics. I believe this is because many students get too involved in trying to obtain good grades and they only learn the material for a short time. Where as students like myself like to learn things on our own and discover information not taught in the classroom. Don't get me wrong, things taught in class are important, but what you learn on your own in the world, is equally or possibly more important.
To me, grades are very important because that's what colleges look at. I have straight A's and I have earned it. I work hard to get straight A's. I will admit that I have cheated at times, but all the students in my class cheat. The teachers know that we cheat on homework; so why do they grade it. I think teachers should just grade tests and quizes. This way, we can tell who has actually learned the information and not just copied the answers from someone else.I also agree with Brooke that there should be entry exams to get into colleges because it's really hard to cheat on the exams.
Mrs. Hansen I think your ideas about grades are absolutely right! You might get an A in a hard class that you are taking, but if you are cheating what good does it do? I think that there is too much stress put upon GPA and rewarding students for grades that they might not have even earned. Although there are many students that do work hard for their grades and do deserve to be rewarded for it. I think that there should be harsher punishments for cheaters, because detention and Saturday school isn’t enough for some people. That way we can encourage LEARNING and lessen cheating in this school.
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