Grade Abolishment
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Making the Grade
I’m not writing this essay because I felt like rebutting a weak argument for fun. I’m writing it because otherwise I won’t pass the class that is required for me to transfer to a state university. I do not read textbooks for pleasure. I read because I need to comprehend the assigned articles to participate in the class discussion so I don’t look stupid. If I was not going to receive a grade for any of the assignments in a class, I cannot think of what would motivate me to do any of the work. These sentiments are shared by the majority of my fellow college students. Despite the fact that we don’t appreciate how our lives seem to hang in the balance when we are awaiting final grades, we don’t know what we would do without them. Paul Goodman’s article “A Proposal to Abolish Grading” gives us his idealistic views towards grading in universities. “Let half a dozen of the prestigious universities… abolish grading, and use testing only and entirely for pedagogic purposes as teachers see fit” (238). He recounts why grading is harmful for teachers and students, and should be replaced by testing that is only used for a student’s own self discovery. The author does not gives this claim the support it would need to be considered logical, nor does he provide a way to effectively implement his proposal.
Goodman’s first offering of support to his proposal is that the grading system “runs mainly for its own sake” (239). He makes the point that graduate schools and corporations do not look at grades, but merely the degree. What he does not recognize at this point in the argument is that grading is what motivates students to endure the courses required to achieve such a degree. He does acknowledge this motivation factor later, however it would have made much more sense to address it in the start of the argument as it is the largest point of objection.
The author quotes the dean of the Harvard Office of Tests, pointing out that “the scholastic-aptitude and achievement tests used for admission to Harvard are a superexcellent index for all around Harvard performance, better than high school grades or particular Harvard course grades”(239). There is still a required grade point average for admission, as there is with all universities. A student that has a perfect SAT score with a 1.0 GPA still cannot attend Harvard. Which means that grades are not for their own sake, but as a tool to measure ability and readiness for a university. The schools know that grades are not the only measure, and that’s why they use test scores and essays and interviews. But without grades, admissions officers would not have as clear a view of students. Goodman does not concede the necessity of grades as a tool of admission, which is one of their main purposes and one that should not be ignored in such and argument.
The author then looks to the history of examination as evidence that grading is not needed. “In the medieval university, the whole point of the grueling trial of the candidate was whether or not to accept him as a peer…It was not no make comparative evaluations. It was not to weed out and select for an extramural licensor or employer” (Goodman 239). While this may be true of medieval universities, it is hardly comparable to the American universities of today. The methods of examination, as well as the purposes, are quite different. Examinations at universities in medieval times were oral debates in which the candidates advanced a series of questions or theses which they disputed or argued with opponents a little senior to themselves, and finally with the masters who had taught them. The trials of examination in the university of medieval times were not to prepare a student for another career, as there were few options for a scholar at that time. Their options were to write, teach, become a member of the court or join the clergy.(Brief 1) The university of today aims to groom students for a variety of careers, which requires different methods of assessment. Exams are in the form of scantrons, essays, presentations, and dissertations for graduate students. Often, the structure of the assessment is tailored to the content of the class, such as a sales presentation in a class on marketing strategies. The classes in medieval universities were based the reading and analyzing of texts, not separate subject matters. To use the university of medieval times as an example of what our current institutions of higher learning should aspire to does not help support Goodman’s claim. Rather, it makes the claim seem foolish and unrealistic for desiring to reach back into time.
Goodman presents this proposal without providing any type of plan to put it into effect. He presents an idea that would radically change the format of all higher learning today, but does not give any information as