Why do you believe grades are so important in today's education?

Question

Now, grades and numbers are mearly all that matter anymore. The fact of education is slipping away. The fact of going to school is to learn, but nowadays it seems that people only go to get good grades. It doesn't even matter if you truly understand it anymore, just if you cant pass by and get that A+ on the test. What is your take on this?

I am an honors student.

Answer 1

well usually ur grade is a good indication of how well u know the material

Answer 2

Well, I would hope that getting an A means you actually understand the material but I suppose sometimes it doesn't. I also think you can NOT get an A on a test and still be able to understand it. It's something for people to work for, gives them a measurable goal. However, i'm in graduate school and get annoyed by how people STILL run around sharing their grades with everyone else. I have tried really hard to give only "good" or "not so good" type answers because I don't want to feed into this. I don't need the validation of my peers to know i'm intelligent. I've decided that if I were to ever teach, I would not let the students know their number grades but only give them a letter. This way, they know where they stand as far as passing but there hopefully won't be as much importance put on the grade.

Answer 3

Honestly, I'm totally against the grading system. I'm also against the way schools are run all together. For starters, how can you determine one's aptitude in a subject such as English, Math, or Science when most of the tests consist of multiple choice questions? So when someone gets an A on a test it doesn't necessarily mean that they are smart or that they even know what the heck is going on in class. They are merely good test takers. And so much pressure is placed on making an "A", not on whether you've actually learned the information or not. I knew people in high school that made great grades, but seemed really dull and common intelligence-wise. And I've met people who were considered slackers and they were always reading novels and holding intelligent conversations. The moral: You can't tell a person's intelligence by what grades they make in school.

Answer 4

I do not believe grades matter at all in the long run.
So you graduated with A's, or at the top of your class; does this mean you understand, can use, built on, or apply the things you have learned? Not always.
Some students simply get good grades because they are good test takers, but how much is actually retained, or usable?
I find it much more important that a student can actually use what they have learned, and apply it, I know many C students who have made it just as far, if not further than many, if not most honor roll students.
We place to much emphasis on a letter grade, and not enough on actual learning.
Grades, and test scores look good on paper, and give the schools records to fulfill federal, and state requirements set to keep receiving future funding.

Answer 5

Grades train people to be statistically-oriented. They prepare you for a life of measuring up to other people and competition in the workplace. They train you to measure yourself numerically, rather than by your complete understanding of a subject and life.
I don't approve of standardized testing or grades. I was a straight A student, honors society member, graduated from a top college Magna *** Laude-- and all the most important thing I have learned in life have not been through memorization or any amount of standardization. Grading emphasizes all the wrong things about learning. I think it's a shame that the education system hasn't come up with a more effective, encouraging, and appropriate method to monitor children's learning.

Answer 6

I am not sure.. I am a teacher and personally grades dont matter to me. This might surprise some, but for me it is just a formality that gets in the way, and is very time consuming. Most parents know where their children stand, and children know where they stand too. I think more people would find school intersting and want to get involved and personalize it if they weren't all trying to just get the grades. I find a lot of people learn what they need to know for the time, but the day later, or right after the assignment or test all that information is gone.. so what was the point of the assignment?

Answer 7

it's because they take you as a 4 year old and put you in a room with other 4 year olds that may or may not be at your intelligence level but they keep you together and tear you from your family and tell you what to learn and why its important. and they make you stay in this room until you 18 and the government thinks you are ready and you have learned enough to be an 'adult'. high school graduation is such a joke. the high school exit exam is a text of 7th grade math and minimal reading skills. thats what you need to graduate?
the whole education system is a joke.

Answer 8

I completely agree with you. Actual grades are not important, what someone has actually learned and how they can use that information is what is important. I teach first grade, and I am very pleased that our school uses a checklist of skills rather than grades. It does make it much more difficult to do "grade" cards, but it makes SO much more sense. Then I can see what my students really know and what they need to work on, as can their parents.

Answer 9

Yes I understand. I'm only a student and I myself hate how you have to be in academic level courses to be able to go to university or get any type of good paying job..it really upsets me and now I have already taken applied courses and can't get into the harder academic level like I wanted too. I now have to finish highschool (i'll be 18) and wait till i'm 21 years of age to get into university as a mature student to become a nurse. It's a long wait and then 4 years of schooling after that..grades really matter too much nowadays..if you don't got the grades, your really limited as to what you can do jobwise.

Answer 10

I think that grades useless like the close door button on an elevator. It is just there to make people feel better. A person can learn nothing but cheat to get an A+.

Answer 11

school IS for learning. the grades are mearly a letter. It determines the stage of education a person is. If the person gets an A then it means they are comprehending the lesson if they get an F then it means they re having a hard time learning the subject or lesson...it determines their level of understanding.