By Hanna Qian
Many teachers and parents ask the same question over and over again. The question is should schools eliminate grades? Lots of people have different opinions about it. I think that schools should not take off the grades because many people want to see how they do on tests, quizzes, and normal worksheets. Other people take grades a little too seriously. When they are mad at an English test they hate themselves and want to redo it. With some kids having great grades and others not, the teachers also can see who improved and how much they improved. People have different opinions and what I think is best for students is to keep grades the way they are.
The first reason that I think schools should keep grades is because Students and parents can see how well they have done on their school work, tests, and quizzes. Grading is a considerably imperfect way of determining how students understand concepts. People can still learn much information without necessarily scoring high grades. Even students who place too much focus on scoring a straight A might miss out on other aspects of learning. Although getting straight “A”s is a good sign, it also means that you're focusing on one thing more than everything else. However, grades remain the primary method used by society to determine what you might accomplish in the future. Though imperfect, grading of students still plays several key functions. Like teachers don’t want kids to spend an hour on a paragraph just to get straight “A”s. Although many people get discouraged with their grades, it also tells the teacher you need help or if you’re perfectly good to go.
Another reason is that kids that do try to improve are actually looking at the feedback that their teachers gave them. Other kids see their grades and think they are doing so bad that they won’t even care about their grades, and don’t even try their best. Then their teachers see that they need some extra practice. After, the teacher can pull them aside and ask, “Why are you doing so bad in front of everyone?” That kid always wants to have good grades again. This tells the teachers and parents that their kids need more practice on that subject. Other kids that care about their scores want to improve will not get worse. These kids ask the teachers if they can have extra practice rather than staying at home, sitting on the couch and eating chips.
What I think about grades might be different from everyone else, but it’s fine because everyone has different opinions. What I think is that schools should not take away grades because some people need their grades so they can see if they improve or not. It also helps the teachers to know that these students need help.
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