Essay 2 Argument 2nd Draft

Vincent Borrego
Professor Moraes
English 1A
October 1, 2014

Grades Are Causing Harm Not Good

In the world we live in today, people are taught if they make a mistake they are going to be held accountable for their actions, because there is a certain standard one must live by if they want to be perceived as “successful” way by society. Whether that is being told by the teacher as a kid to return pages six through ten in class the next day, or being an adult and having an important presentation due the following weekend after a long vacation with family. Regardless, people have responsibilities and it is up to them to follow through with obligations because there is a standard set and without that standard, people would just roam freely being broke with no education. Children are taught at a young age that in order to rise above their peers and to be successful they must get A’s in school. In many different circumstances this does not always seem to be the case, of course it is important that children perform to the best of their ability, but A’s and B’s do not define the potential and attributes of a child that may be getting C’s or D’s. Grading systems must be implemented in order to target a child’s skills opposed to enforcing the same policies and grading systems on everyone. Everyone in the world has a different thought process and although people might think similarly, people have diverse mindsets so why are there grading systems that put all students in the same category. This highly debatable topic must be brought to teachers and superintendants attention in order to grasp a child or young adults abilities to the fullest. All children are brought up in different households that have different values and that are completely different, whether they are children that go to public school or parochial school. Public schools are often much more diverse due to the financial differences. Kids are held to a certain expectation, which is understandable to say the least, but not all children develop at the same rate and sometimes the teachers teaching the material are not being held accountable like the students are. This is a quote written by a student in Olsen in 2006 who was interviewed about grades and the negative effect it has made on her. "I remember the first time that a grading rubric was attached to a piece of my writing…. Suddenly all the joy was taken away. I was writing for a grade -- I was no longer exploring for me. I want to get that back. Will I ever get that back?" (Kohn) These are some very strong words from Claire, the Olson student. She felt that what she was writing was no longer free expression but something that is only being looked at as a grade and not for what it really is, which is her thoughts and feelings. Tasha Cerceo, a teacher at August Elementary school in Stockton who has her Masters Degree from the University of California Santa Barbra said, “Information needs to be collected about the progress students are making. This collected information as well as the teachers input needs to be discussed directly with the student and with his or her parent as in order to make as much progress as possible.”(Cerceo) Teachers must evaluate from different perspectives instead of just saying do this paper or bubble in this scan tron only to receive a letter grade at the end. What is this method of grading really teaching a child? That they are either the best, average, or not up to par. This is not the case for all teachers because there is amazing teachers out there that travel great lengths in order to insure their student are learning to the best of their ability. So many teachers just throw work at a student and say turn in because it is much easier for them to do that then to grade and this is from personal experience. They do not always need to give tests to students to collect information and sharing the information that has been collected does not always require grades. Why in 2014 are children

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