Well, we did another one of those timed essays in English today, and I thought (since I got done like ten minutes early) that I'd put mine up here. It got a five! Woot! Haha. Woot is a fun word!
Topic: Your principal is considering a new grading policy that replaces letter or number grades on report cards with pass or fail. What is your position concerning this issue? Write a letter to your principal stating your position and supporting it with convincing reasons. Be sure to explain your reasons in detail.
Essay:
Mr. Davis,
When you were in school did you strive to get the best possible score in every class? Did you feel good when you could see that you had gone from an A to and A+ or from a C to an A? Switching to a pass or fail grading system would take that drive away from students. The good students wouldn’t really be recognized for their achievements. The students who don’t do quite so well would only ever have to work hard enough to get to the percentage that would pass them, and they would look just as good as those who worked their very hardest. Switching to a pass or fail grading system would ultimately harm all the students in our school.
For some students grades are so important that it is almost all they think about. They look to get the highest A possible, and they strive for 4.0s. In my experience I know that getting good grades is really important. I can’t stand it when I have an A- because it’s the only thing holding me back from a 4.0. When students can see that people are recognizing their achievements they work harder. They like the attention, and they like to know people are proud of them. When students in our school can look up at the wall in the commons and see their picture because they got a 4.0 it makes them feel good, and it keeps them going through the next term.
Without having GPAs or grades students wouldn’t be recognized the way they are now for their classroom achievements. Sometimes that’s all it takes for a student to stop working in school. When they think that nobody is really going to care if they get the highest grade they just stop. What’s the motivation if nobody pays attention to anything other than if you passed or failed? Even the students who don’t get great grades would be affected by this change.
Some students don’t ever work for the classes they’re in and they don’t really care about whether they pass or fail a class. Logically though, if all you have to do to pass a class and look just as good as the best 4.0 student is raise the percentage even just a little bit, they’d do it. Some people would say this is good because at least they’d be passing, but how can it be good to encourage to only go as far as you need to in order to pass? These students who get lower grades would be hurting themselves, because by passing with the lowest score possible students hardly even need to learn the material for their classes.
Switching to a pass/fail grading system would hurt the students of our school. The good students with the good grades would not be recognized for their hard work, and they would lose, some, if not all of their motivation to go for the highest possible grade. The students with the bad grades would not actually have to learn anything in order to pass. So I ask you, Mr. Davis, to consider what you are doing to the students in your school before you take this action. You would be helping us all.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Madison Randquist
I thought I presented some good points there. :P I liked it. :P
WOOT! Hahaha.
Seven minutes left of English. I think I'll just keep writing until it's time to log off.....
Drama... My life is full of it. Joy.
I don't know what to talk about...
Oh well....
