According to The Cambridge Dictionary, a grade is used to measure the quality of a student’s performance. What does a grade mean to the average student and teacher though? How does one achieve that grade? How does that differ from class to class?
The first grading system was implemented in 1785 by Yale’s president Ezra Stiles, and it was based on four descriptions: Optimi, Second Optimi, Inferiores, and Perjores – also known as best, second best, less good, and worse. In 1817, other universities like William and Mary College in Virginia implemented the same grading system. In the early 1900s, grading took a more holistic approach because K-12 education became more popular. Due to this holistic approach, grades were no longer specific to a school, university, or individual student. Finally, in the 1940s, the A-F grading system came into effect as “the dominant grading scheme, along with two other systems that would eventually be fused together with it: the 4.0 scale and the 100 percent system.” Even though the A-F grading system took effect in the 1940s, only 67% of schools used it by the 1970s, and it wasn’t until the 1980s that all schools nationwide began to use it.
We all know that teachers and students have very different views on what a grade is but how different are they? Some teachers had more to say than others like Mr. Hartman, an English Teacher, explained his views on grades: “I think that grades are an outdated symptom of a broken system, grades are primarily used to motivate kids and they only matter if kids are going to college or graduating. If it was up to me there would be no grade; students should be [evaluated] on their mastery of skills.” Mr. Hartman added that “I don’t think grades are often accurate; grades only matter in education. Less than 40 percent will go to college…Grades should not be the motive for learning. I also don’t like how grades are a ranking system, and the first time you get a bad grade on something then we’re saying you’re stupid.”
Some students have different views like Chris Brandenburg, a sophomore, who says, “Grades are to determine how hard someone is willing to work but also to see how smart someone is.” Even though Chris says that grades are important to see someone’s capability, he also said, “I feel like we shouldn’t be grading someone off of a subject that they’re not particularly good at and instead focus on giving students as many options to work hard at something that they’re good at.”
When we think of grades, most of us think of A’s and B’s but we don’t think so much of what makes a grade and how it impacts us. Grades shouldn’t be used to scare us into doing good work to go to college and get a job, instead, they should be used to encourage us into wanting to learn and to do better. We all have so much potential in school and in life, and maybe we need to do away with the mindset that we need to get good grades to do well in life.