by Casey Kirk

Created on: February 03, 2009

As a recent college graduate, I just commenced almost 20 years in our education system. Reflecting upon my personal experience, I believe that if students were not so concerned about receiving the best letter grade possible, they could focus on the true purpose of institutions of higher-education; learning.

The courses in which professors encourage learning and pay less attention to letter grades are usually the ones that students thrive in and retain the most experiences and information from. Looking back on stacks of tests and essays, the most useful feedback I received were written comments from professors, not the scores written on top.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, courses that are centered around percentages and grades generally fail to actually teach students, who lose sight of the actual lessons somewhere along the Scantrons, Bluebooks, and rote-memorization.

Teachers often fall prey to grading system as well. Websites such as ratemyprofessor.com report statistics on how many students' receive which letter grades every semester, mistakenly sending the message that professors who give the most "A"s are the "best" professors to take courses from. Sadly, this warped idea encourages some professors to hand out good grades instead of what students actually need, which is constructive criticism if they are below par. This, in turn, teaches the student nothing.

Unfortunately, not all students enrolled in community colleges or universities are serious about their education and banning all types of grading scales might let some fall through the cracks. While some might argue that this is not the problem of teachers, there still has to be some marker to show that a student completed the required coursework and is a candidate to move on to upper division courses. Also, there is still a need to place some students on academic probation and determine eligibility for sports, Greek organizations, and other activities.

However, instead of a "A" through "F" grading system, a pass or fail might be more effective. This would encourage students to look past the insignificant letter grades but still reward those who put in the required effort. For those that go above and beyond their semester coursework, they won't take home an "A+" but instead what they have learned. Instead of listing a high GPA on their resume, students could point out educational accomplishments.

Most importantly, if the grading system is done away with, students who are serious about their educational careers will take what is really important from their courses: the lessons taught in them.

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