GRADING IN SCHOOLS: Instrumental or detrimental?
‘Mummy, I’m no more going to Adeayo Model School o!’, Angela complained to her mum as she got up from bed. ‘Why is that?’, her mum asked. Angela began to relay all the unfair treatment she felt she faced at school. She saw the ‘A,B,C and D’ in front of all her classmates’ names on the notice board as partiality and discrimination. Ever since her best friend, Toyin, stopped associating with her because she always had Grade C, Angela disliked the idea of grading.
Angela is an example of so many students who are unknowingly intimidated by grading and performance levelling in various academic settings. A study looks at the dangers of grading in education and defines it as applying standardized measurements of varying levels of achievement in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters, as a range, as a percentage, or as a number out of a possible total. As good as this system is, it has its unhealthy side. The unhealthy aspect is what is very relatable to Angela.
A certain conclusion cannot be easily reached because it has both sides of the coin. Part of its advantages is that it allows for competition spirit. Students taking a particular course will feel challenged to do better in their course so as to meet up with other top-flyers. No diligent student will not want to improve in an aspect he/she is weak at. Will you want to be left out of the winning team?
Also, grading reduces score pressure. Students know that they are sure of getting an ‘A’ if they score between the range of 90%- 100%. They do not have to worry about getting a particular score for them to get an ‘A’ in their course. This fact alone could be a morale booster and a basis for intellectual leverage that each student will feel towards the other.
However, grading system has its unpleasant effect on students. This is, more often than not, psychological. It de-motivates students who are affected. Angela might have tried her personal best to meet up with the highest grade and that might have not worked for her. This made her de-motivated to the point of her unwilling to return to school. It could even lead to a low self-esteem in her personality, making her withdrawn. The fact that her intellect is limited to a letter indicating hierarchy in grade could be demeaning. This could unhealthily boost the ego of students topping the class/course.
Under-utilization of knowledge and intellectual skills is common among students as a result of grading system in schools. When a student knows 90% is the start of an ‘A’ grade and he/she has the ability to surpass that score, the urge to do more or try harder will not be there because there is no clear distinction of exact scores out of the total score. This could also account for complacency or laziness in tasking the student’s brain. Generalization of a range of scores is what grading is all about.
The idea I opine is the creation of a parents’ portal where qualitative feedback will be given to guardians or parents about their wards’ overall performance in school. That way, the psychology of the students will not be a thing to worry about as comprehensive reports are given and parents will know how to work on their wards. Is this realistic?
DADA PRECIOUS T.
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‘Mummy, I’m no more going to Adeayo Model School o!’, Angela complained to her mum as she got up from bed. ‘Why is that?’, her mum asked. Angela began to relay all the unfair treatment she felt she faced at school. She saw the ‘A,B,C and D’ in front of all her classmates’ names on…
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Beautiful writing… Reminded me of “school” during adolescent age. But is the creation of feedback portals going to work ? No… It’s the student involved here not the parents, what I think is that if grades are going to used then each Student’s grade should be concealed from each other or Students shouldn’t be grade of academic activities alone but also extra curricular activities.
Beautiful writing though 👏🏽.