Spring Break
Our View: Grade expectations a bit backwards
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Opinion
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that a University of California study showed that of students surveyed, a third said they expected to earn a B in their courses just for showing up and 40 percent said they deserved at least a B for completing all the reading.
In addition to this, two-thirds of surveyed students said that if they explained to a teacher that they were putting effort into the class, it should be considered during grading.
This, students, is just a little ridiculous.
Yes, there are certain areas in life where an A-for-effort approach is best -- like in Little League -- but college is not one of them.
Students should be graded by the amount of knowledge and understanding of a subject that they gain in a course, not by how many times they come or how much they read.
Students need to start caring about their own educations and need to realize that if this grading system ever becomes a trend, we will have a society of uneducated patrons that try really hard at everything in life but never make progress.
If students are having a lot of trouble understanding assignments, they should go to their teacher seeking more options and resources to learn the subject, not seek a cop-out A-for-effort grade.
In addition, parents need to teach their kids at a young age how to use and find resources to learn, not how to whine when you don't get what you want in life.
Many American students have the resources available to educate themselves; they just need to start caring about their education, not just their grades.
In addition to this, two-thirds of surveyed students said that if they explained to a teacher that they were putting effort into the class, it should be considered during grading.
This, students, is just a little ridiculous.
Yes, there are certain areas in life where an A-for-effort approach is best -- like in Little League -- but college is not one of them.
Students should be graded by the amount of knowledge and understanding of a subject that they gain in a course, not by how many times they come or how much they read.
Students need to start caring about their own educations and need to realize that if this grading system ever becomes a trend, we will have a society of uneducated patrons that try really hard at everything in life but never make progress.
If students are having a lot of trouble understanding assignments, they should go to their teacher seeking more options and resources to learn the subject, not seek a cop-out A-for-effort grade.
In addition, parents need to teach their kids at a young age how to use and find resources to learn, not how to whine when you don't get what you want in life.
Many American students have the resources available to educate themselves; they just need to start caring about their education, not just their grades.
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