Venango Christian High School - Saga Yearbook (Oil City, PA)

Page 21 text:

Student Forum-. Should the Grading System Be Revised? 'To improve the quality of education, yes. Timothy Walsh Are you “learning” more but un- derstanding it less? Or are you under- standing more but presumably learn- ing less? Don't be surprised if your answer echoes in the affirmative. You’re not alone. The high school students of this generation have been swept up in a growing tide of fact learning. It seems that the minds of this coun- try's young people have been and are being corrupted by a multitude of un- related, superficial fact, formulas, and incident. Don't get me wrong; there's nothing immoral about fact. The present educational system, however, all too often emphasizes for fact's sake. Little consideration is given for.in-depth learning on any given subject. True, our “democratic institution” allows every person complete freedom to research any topic as extensively as he wishes, but such work is not accredited to , his educational development. A person’s literacy may hang on his knowledge of the birth and death dates of famous personages, the day and month of historical events, or the C»NP for the last 17 years. If a person knows such “vital” statis- tics, he may well be deemed bril- liant. No one seems to care, how- ever, whether or not that same person knows why or with what impact these events occured. What’s wrong with our system? Who’s really to blame? The right an- swers are not easy to come by, fbr, as in any complex situation, there are no simple answers. The fact remains that many “B” and “C students are much better students than some so-called “brains.” the reason: it's one thing to memorize facts and dates for an exam, but it's quite another to ack- nowledge and understand a body of related fact. A photographic memory does not necessarily indicate schol- arship. True we must know the facts presented us by educators, related or otherwise, out our scholastic grade should not be determined in total by our absorption of them. A greater consideration should be given for both research and understanding. As a possible solution to our cur- rent dilemma I would suggest a grad- ing system based on two criteria. First, the numerical grading would cease and a “pass-or-fail” system would be adopted. Second, a more intensified teacher evaluation system would serve to narrow the field of thosestudents whopass, thus making possible a means for determining such things as college entrance. I feel that our grading system is about due for a change involving, greater emphases on understanding and in depth research; unless, of course, we want a nation of super- ficial geniuses. 'The grading system is not at fault.’ Terrence Schneider The primary function of a grading system is to attribute a numerical value to the work of a student and then to pass or to fail him on that basis. Moreover,'a grading system should serve as a measure of one’s knowledge. In our present system the grades are given in numerical va- lues ranging from zero to one hun- dred. Seventy is considered as the lowest possible passing mark. Ac- cordingly a ninety-five or above would signify excellent work on the part of the student in acquiring know- ledge which has either been presen- ted to him or required of him, where- as, a seventy or below shows little effort or acquired knowledge on the part of the student. Our present sys- em is serving as a “yardstick” of knowledge, so to speak. It is, more- over, efficient in encouraging the acquiring of knowledge. It also serves quite efficiently for the pas- sing or failing of a student. The quality of education, it is said, would improve with a revision. In-depth study would be encouraged by systems based upon grading to such simple extremes as satisfactory and unsatisfactory. In answer to qualifications of a student for col- lege work the seekers of revision propose, in one instance, that the majority of the burden of determina- tion of qualification for college rest solely upon the opinion of the teacher as to the character and initiative of the student. With such “representa- tions” as satisfactory and unsatis- factory this would definitely be ne- cessary. As for “in depth” study a student would be encouraged under the “change” to devote time to that particular subject or subjects which he favors. What the proposers of revision fail to see is that the present sys- tem is and always has been impro- ving the quality of education. They fail to see that the grading system is not at fault. And what of the pro- posed media of grades? Now will they determine what is satisfactory or unsatisfactory and how satisfac- tory or unsatisfactory it is. A basic knowledge must be acquired by the student. It is a knowledge of pure fact. When this knowledge has been acquired there is time for in depth work. 3