To Grade or Not to Grade Essay Example for Free

To Grade or Not to Grade Essay Sweaty hands, racing heartbeat, trouble breathing. These are a few of the things some students may experience right before, or even during a test. Jerry Farber brings some very interesting alternatives to testing and to the whole grading process in an article he wrote called, â€Å"A young person’s guide to the grading system†. (Farber 1969) In A young persons guide to the grading system (Farber 1969) Farber has some radical ideas for change that unfortunately, may not be taken seriously enough to invoke change. Although in my opinion his ideas are certainly something that could benefit many students in many ways. In brief, what Farber says is, instead of grading with A’s and F’s, schools could use something he calls the â€Å"credit system†. He goes on to say â€Å"If you meet the minimum requirements of a course, you get credit for it. No A’s or C’s or silver stars, just credit†. (Farber 1969) The best part of this is if you do not meet the minimum requirements nothing happens. As a student that certainly struggles when it comes times for a test, I would like to see some of his ideas implemented in schools. The way school works now, if you try your best but still don’t meet the minimum requirements of the course, it can greatly affect your grade point average. It can even affect your financial aid or get it taken away completely. Also, students will have to pay again to re-take the class, thus adding more money on to your student loans. What a turn off to learning this becomes. Instead of really wanting to learn, school becomes more of learning only what you have to learn to pass a class. Is this what school is supposed to be about? Only learning what we must? I believe Farbers ideas would certainly make school a lot more stress free, thus opening up the doors to free learning. Looking at this from the point of view of the student who struggles with test anxiety or grades in general, but is very smart and puts forth great effort, Farbers ideas make all the sense in the world. A great number of the jobs in the world today require a college degree when on the job training and apprenticeships would be so much more practical. Is it really a good idea to pay for four years of college, graduate and then get training? I think not. To me it makes perfect sense to skip to the on-the-job training. After all, that’s where we learn the most about the job we are doing. And what about all the money spent on college? Is this necessary? According to the Project on student Loan Debt, â€Å"The average amount of student loan debt was $24,000 in 2010. And the unemployment rate is up for college grads too. Given that the average job for a person fresh out of college was approximately 27,000 a year in 2011, according to an article in the New York Times. (NY Times) Does it make sense to burden our young people with a debt that will take years to pay off? Apprenticeships would be so much more beneficial to people and to the government as well. No more student loans or finical aid! Well, at least not as much money going towards them. High schools may see a decrease in the drop-out rate and could turn out smarter, more confident students with a genuine eagerness to learn. I believe Farbers eagerness to teach his students out-of-the-box may have been the reason for him writing this article. Farber is a professor at San Diego University to me that says a lot. He may have gotten tired of seeing his own bright students not meet the requirements of the school and offered a new solution to the problems of the current grading system. Farber has developed a unique new alternative to the current rigid grading system. Wouldn’t it be a great thing to see a study done in a large university that implemented these ideas? It may work. No one will know until it’s tried and tested. Unfortunately this article was written in 1969 and through my research online I was not able to find a single school that was ever willing to take a chance and give more students the chance to â€Å"learn without restriction†. (Farber 1969) References Farber, J. (1969). A young person’s guide to the grading system. In Baker College composition: A custom approach (Revised Edition) (pp. 184-188). Boston, MA: Pearson. [Grads today]. (2011, January 10). Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/business/ economy/19grads.html [Student loan debt]. (2011, April 7). Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://projectonstudentloandebt.org/