Are grades bad?

Educated individuals like Thomas Jefferson, Rene Descartes, William Shakespeare, Galileo, and
Plato were never given grades.

Today however, the contrast couldn’t be greater. Grades define the contours of our educational
system. Our society is even structurally dependent on grading performance. Just look at how the
best jobs go to the students with the best grades at the best universities, who in turn accept
students with the best grades at the best high schools.

At first glance, the large-scale implementation of grades seems like a textbook example of
efficiency improvement. Grades function as a simple and immediate feedback mechanism. They
allow differences between students to be quantified and permit teachers to process more
students in a shorter period of time. However, upon closer inspection, essential questions arise:

Why do we attach so much value to grades? Are grades an adequate form of feedback? What is
the relationship between education and grades? And could an educational model be effective
without this?

Grades are bad

Although grades are a simple and immediate feedback mechanism, they are an inadequate form
of feedback.

1. GRADES CREATE RISK-AVERSE BEHAVIOR

Surely we agree that futile and vain feelings are associated with the letter grade F and proud and
happy feelings are associated with the letter grade A. These links are deeply entrenched in
society’s perspective on education. As a consequence, the expectation of receiving a grade creates
a fear to fail. Students are therefore prone to choose the path with the least resistance, opting for
the easy A.

But as a society, do we want our students to engage in this type of behavior? Will this make them
educated individuals? Perhaps, this is just inherent to human behavior. Still, I think we want
students to be naïve, to dream big, to take risks and to engage in divergent thinking. Truly
innovative concepts emerge in such environments. In this quest, students should embrace failure,
because failure and success are two sides of the same coin.

We advocate for an educational model that’s a safe haven for failure. Instead, emphasis should be
placed on constant iterations and rapid prototyping, allowing students to acquire the ability to
cope with failure and bounce back.

Don´t we want students to dream big, to take risks, and to engage in divergent thinking. In this
quest, students should embrace failure.
2. GRADES HAVE BECOME THE END GOAL

“Is this going to be on the test?” „Do we get a grade for this?” are typical questions that become
increasingly popular as a test date approaches. It seems like an innocent question, but if you
unravel it, a worrying trend surfaces.

Grades, ideally intended as an effective means to learn, have transformed into a goal in itself.
Grades force students to memorize those details necessary to pass a test, often disregarding true
comprehension of the subject matter. In this process, the student’s personal development is
becoming a footnote, overshadowed by the imperative significance of grades. What are the
implications for educational institutions? How effective are they in fulfilling their duty, which is to
educate the next generation?.

Interestingly, the importance we place on grades within the perimeter of educational facilities
does not coincide with the importance companies place on grades. Google’s former Senior Vice
President of People Operations, Laszlo Bock, says, “Exam scores are worthless as a criteria for
hiring, they do not predict anything.”

Perhaps society’s structural dependence on grades has led to an inflated level of importance that
may lead us to develop suboptimal skills that do not translate directly to the workspace.

The Grading Paradigm, Why Grades Restrain Learning

When we place too much importance on grades, the students' personal development becomes a
footnote.

3. GRADES ARE AN INADEQUATE FORM OF FEEDBACK

I think we can easily agree that receiving feedback is an essential part of education; it allows us to
improve. However, are grades the most adequate form of feedback? Here are three reasons why
we should rethink this:

There is no limit in qualitative learning. Grades, however, are like a glass ceiling that students do
not break through. This is because more often than not, obtaining a grade signals the end of a
learning process.

A grade strongly affects the student-teacher relation. A grade should not only be seen as a
measurement tool; the giving and obtaining of a grade also constitutes a relationship. We interact
differently with a person who has obtained an A as compared to someone who obtained a C.

There is a discrepancy between the one-dimensional character of grades and the multidimensional
character of students. Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its
ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” In line with this, personal
feedback, as opposed to grades, can help to differentiate between “you’re not good at this, don’t
bother anymore” and “you’re not good at this with your current approach; why don’t you try a
different approach.
CONCLUSION

Grades play a pivotal role in our current educational paradigm. They’re a convenient measurement
tool that is easy to manage, store, and transmit. When dealing with masses of students, it is
justifiable that these factors are decisive.

At THNK, we do not believe in grades. Grades create an environment that restricts innovation and
creativity. They have lost their original purpose, imply failure, and undermine personal
relationships. We believe in personalized feedback through intensive coaching and mentoring
from professional coaches and peers — only then you can unlock your true potential as a creative
leader.

Source: https://www.thnk.org/