Are Grades Necessary

Diana Manley
Professor Ingram
ENG 101
11/01/14
Are Grades Necessary?
Are grades really necessary? Alfie Kohn attempts to persuade in his article called “From Degrading to De-grading” from Acting Out Culture, how he believes grades are ineffective,, and should no longer exist, for many reasons. Kohn thinks grades are degrading and he provides examples and reasoning in support of why he thinks grades and de-grading (abolishing grades) is necessary. How does the mass of people think about this issue of de-grading? Kohn provides examples and reasoning to argue why he believes de-grading is the way to go. While I agree with some of his points, over I disagree with his general opinion. I believe grades are essential to track students’ progress, give them motivation to learn and challenge themselves, and further their academic career.
Why are kids not really learning anything in school these days? For example, my dad would be watching a history documentary on television and I would ask him about something and he would always respond first by saying “What do teachers teach these days? You should have learned about this.” Why does my dad always seem to respond to my questions with the same answer? That is basically going off what Kohn points out in the passage and his reasoning behind his explanations as to why grades are so degrading.
Kohn explains in his article how the traditional grading system is a waste of time. Kohn’s opinion of the best teacher is the one who despises the grade book and wonders about the thought of giving grades at all. Kohn provides many reasons supporting his beliefs. For example, grades reduce the student’s interest to learn the material and learning in general. It basically lessons the students preference for a challenge. When grades are in the picture the students’ quality of thinking is reduced. It is also argued that grades are unreliable, not valid, and have the ability to distort the curriculum. Kohn believes grades waste time that could be spent on learning more material and concepts. Students are more likely to cheat if they feel there is too much pressure to have good grades. In the long run, students will not be prepared for higher education if they are not learning anything in grade school.
The first point Kohn gives as to why grades are ineffective is that grades reduce students’ interest in learning. According to Kohn, the more people are rewarded for doing something the more they lose interest in that activity. Kohn is basically saying that as a result of being rewarded, the students’ will view the activity as a chore they have to do to get what they want.
Kohn also points out that grades reduce students’ preference for challenging tasks for two different reasons. First, students’ are likely to choose the easiest assignment. Second, they will adapt to the environment where good grades are what counts. if the students’ do not live up to their expectations and get A’s they will likely lose respect because getting A’s is what is expected of you.
First, students are likely to pick the easiest assignment because they do not want to get a poor grade to show for picking the hard assignment, so the students’ just choose the easiest assignment. They do not want to disappoint the teacher or their parents, so they do not pick a challenging assignment, which could possibly be difficult to complete. They want to pick the easiest assignment, which allows them to get the good grades that are expected of them, so they can get accepted into college. They are concentrating on getting good grades to send to college, so they have a better chance of getting accepted into their desired school.
Second, they are adapting to the environment where good grades are what counts because as Kohn states “the more pressure to get an A, the less inclination to truly challenge oneself”. That basically means that since students have so much pressure to do well, so they will choose the easiest assignment just to please their authority. Another statement Kohn explains is “students who cut corners mat not be lazy so much as rational, they are adapting to the environment where good grades, not intellectual exploration, are what count”.
As Kohn points out many reasons and examples as to why grades are degrading for the student, he also explains what grades do, what they are, and what they are not. He makes several valid claims as to what grades are and their functions. He makes several more points as to why grades are not valid, reliable, or objective, how and why grades distort the curriculum, why grades encourage cheating, and how grades spoil relationships not just between the teacher and the students but also students’ relationships with their peers.
Kohn makes his first point that grades are not valid, reliable, or objective because grades really just reflect the teacher’s viewpoint. He believes that grades are a reflection of the teacher’s opinion because the teacher decides if he/she likes the student’s answer with grading an essay. Also the teacher creats the questions to problems so even math or science depend on what kind of problem the teacher decides to pick, how it is written, and how many points it is worth. In fact there is even a study to prove this theory. In the story it was shown that two different teachers graded the same paper differently. Teacher could also grade differently on different days because of their mood.
The second point Kohn makes is that grades distort the curriculum because teachers will teach facts rather than encourage individual ideas and thinking. Reason being is that facts are easier to score/grade, so teachers simply go with multiple choice tests that are fact based. Also, teachers assign book work, which includes strictly facts and therefore when the test comes around the teachers can just make the test multiple choice. The teachers can make the tests multiple choice because multiple choice tests are strictly fact based questions.
Another point Kohn makes is how grades encourage cheating because students will cheat to get a better grade. It is a fact that students will cheat to get the better grade because it is the grade, not the quality of learning, that counts. Basically, the quality of learning does not matter as much because teachers are pressuring students for the good grades.
Lastly, as Kohn points out how grades spoil relationships not just between the teacher and the students but also student’s relationships with their peers. That means that kids are not just rated among their peers, they are ranked. That sends the message that the point is not to learn, or to perform well, but to defeat others. The author says “more students might be motivated to improve their class rank, but that is completely different from being motivated to understand ideas”(PG?). That is basically showing students that they can be motivated to have a better rank than other students.
Even though I agree with some of Kohn’s points, overall I disagree. I agree that grades do reduce students’ preference for challenging assignments based on how students are expected and heavily pressured to get good grades. I agree that students adapt to the environment where good grades are what counts because if students are pressured so harshly to get an ‘A’, then they will do anything to please and the ‘A’. I also agree with the fact that students will do the easiest assignment in order to give teachers what they want. Lastly, I agree with the point the author makes that grades encourage cheating because cheating helps students get a better grade, which is what counts.
On the other hand I do disagree with a couple points as well. First point I disagree with is how grades reduce students interest in learning because I believe if I am rewarded for doing something, I will have more motivation to do that activity or assignment because of the fact I will get a reward. I also agree with Kohn’s point about how grades reduce the quality of students thinking because I think if a grade is involved I would want my project or assignment to look better so I get a good grade. For example, if a teacher were to tell me to draw something or make a visual for something, but that it was not going to be graded, I would put less effort in, be less creative, and I would basically not even try.
Also, Kohn mentions objections to grading which I agree with because one objection he makes that really stands out is how schools have to give grades so students are prepared for being graded at the next level. I agree with this because if students do not get grades they would have no desire to learn. As Kohn points out “The damage of grades does not begin until students get to high school” (PG?). I especially agree with this point because high school grades are the grades colleges look at when doing the admission process.
One other objection Kohn points out is that “Grades can succeed in getting students to show up on time, hand in their work, and otherwise do what they are told”. I agree with this statement because I currently notice in college that if a professor does not require students to attend class, then certain students do not come unless it is a test day or they have something due for a grade. However, if the teacher/professor makes it a requirement that students attend class and include a participation grade, they will see more students showing up, since coming to class is mandatory.
All in all, Kohn believes de-grading is necessary and supports his opinion with reasons and explanations, but overall I disagree. IF grades are kept students will benefit in the long run. Teachers will be able to monitor students’ progress and assess how each individual student is doing. Grades give students motivation they would not have otherwise. Students will in fact put in more effort if they are graded versus if they are not graded. Lastly, grades are essential in the college admission process. Having gone through this process myself, I observed all college that I was interested in required high school transcripts. Until colleges remove the need for grades, it does not make sense to remove grades from the lower levels. With Kohn’s points and how I argued against de-grading, grades will likely stick around.