A, B, C, and D Don't Work for Me

As a current high school student I feel as though I know a thing or two about the current grading system. Generally an A student, it is very hard to admit that I received my first B. The problem was, I felt I deserved the A. I put in time and effort, and if you asked me to verbally explain the material, I could. I was even showing other kids how to do things. To me , being able to teach someone else shows and exceeding understanding of the material. This experience made me do a double take back onto the high school grading system, and it's many flaws.

1. GPAs don't adjust for what level of A/B you receive.

If you score a 97 percent or a 92.5 percent you get four points calculated into your GPA, but if you score a 92.49 percent you get three points calculated into a GPA. Having a three in your GPA calculation can drastically effect your GPA.

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2. Your effort isn't reflected in your grade.

Even if you put in your best effort, you may still score less than an A in a class. The grading system doesn't accurately reflect the time and effort put in for your grade.

3. You have no choice in your learning.

In majority of classes, you take a test to demonstrate your learning. Tests can cause anxiety for many people, causing them to score poorly even though they may understand the material.

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4. Grading is all subjective.

Each teacher can grade in a different way, and different for each student. By not being held accountable for using objective grading, if a teacher doesn't like a student they can grade them harder than other students.

5. Kids are motivated from the grade they receive and not the learning taking place.

Students are more motivated to "get the a," wether or not that means they learned anything. This mind set inhibits the desire for new information, because they focus is set on the grade.