by Jim J Jones

Created on: May 20, 2009

Grades are nothing more, and nothing less, than the perceived performance of a student in a class that is taken for a grade. How the teacher or professor gauges the student's performance varies from subject to subject, encompassing everything from the quality of art or writing produced to the intricate details of an approach to solving math problems.

Many students take the entirely correct view that grades do not reflect either their ability level or their effort level in a subject, as the brightest students can often earn low marks on a technicality, and the hardest working may simply be unable to fully grasp the subject material. Those who earn high marks might have cheated outright, or curried favor with a professor by other means, and thereby distorted the professor's ability to accurately evaluate the student in question.

However, the fact remains that professors and teachers must find some system by which they can judge their students, a method which is near-universally understood, interchangeable between institutions, and extremely simple. For all the injustice associated with it, letter or number grades are the only solution to that problem.

Employers and colleges review student performance on the basis of grades assigned by teachers or professors, recommendations written by professors who liked the student in question a great deal, and extracurriculars, personal interests, and other characteristics that have a profound but non-quantifiable effect on an application. It is obvious, given this use of grades, that grades matter for the purposes of finding employment or getting into a good college.

Alternatively, one could take a broader view of what it means for grades to matter, and from that perspective grades only matter if the student strives to achieve a good grade, or if the grades are indicative of some trait the student possesses, such as an excellent work ethic or natural intelligence (or some combination). It is also possible that a student views grades as a from of self-validation, in which case grades for their own sake are again very important. By contrast, for those students who are confidant about employment prospects, and who believe that the sole purpose of an education is to learn and broaden one's self (rather than to gain advantages in the job market) it is clear that grades are entirely irrelevant, and of no significance beyond their potential to get a student thrown out of the educational system.

As with so many things, it's simply a matter of individual perspective.

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