What’s Your GPA?: It’s Not the Most Important Part of School

From our earliest school days, students are primed to get good grades. The quest for an “A” and a high GPA has led to cheating, scandals, and stress, because getting top grades is considered so critical.

Obviously, the focus on grades doesn’t support an open, learning-oriented attitude. That’s why many schools have chosen not to use them. For example, Delphian School takes a mastery-based approach that follows a set of pedagogical principles, allowing students greater autonomy than in typical classroom settings — as well as more input into curriculum design. As students demonstrate their proficiency in each area of study, they advance to the next level. 

What’s more, this competency isn’t tied to school “seasons”: a student needn’t wait until “finals” or the end of winter term, for example, to showcase their level of mastery. Because of this student-centered, flexible approach, students who excel can graduate early, sometimes as young as 16.

How Letter Grades Fail Students

While Delphian’s approach is admirably advanced, is the typical grading system really that much of a problem? Yes, say American educators.

As noted above, the primary reason letter grades fail is that students are acculturated to aim for the A rather than studying for the sake of learning itself, so the joy of acquiring knowledge becomes tied to performance — and, usually, to self-esteem. The external motivation limits students’ desire to study solely to learn what they need to pass a test and get a good grade rather than encouraging them to explore further and enhance both their subject matter knowledge and interest in learning itself.

The mental health aspect is similarly critical, especially in an era when more young people than ever before are depressed, with record numbers of children choosing to end their short lives. School should not contribute to this anxiety and pressure, which begins as early as elementary school. A letter grade does not determine a child’s value or future, but if a student perceives that it does, the damage is already done.

Relaxed and Engaged 

A standards-based grading system evaluates students based on predetermined course objectives and performance standards. While not as self-determined as the competency structure, standards-based grading eliminates letter grades and focuses on what types of support the student needs to do well.

For example, if a student appears to be struggling with a certain subject, standards-based evaluation allows the teacher to discuss the sticking point, and present the material in alternative ways until it “clicks” and the student grasps the information.

Standards-based grading likewise eliminates the fierce pressure to receive an A or B, or else be perceived as “stupid” by their peers, which can escalate to taunting, mental health decline, and more serious concerns. Eliminating grades also eliminates competition, which in turn helps students relax, so they are better able to receive and process what is being taught.

The more relaxed students are, the more they are able and willing to engage, both with the material and with one another, since no one is competing for the elusive, all-important A. It’s a relief for everyone in the classroom, including the teacher.

Self-Awareness and Happy Parents

Letter-free evaluations help students become more self-aware, as teachers guide them in understanding their individual strengths and weaknesses, and how they can improve. By removing letter grades, anxiety and competition, children are more invested in their own learning and eager to shine, which makes them feel good.

Finally, swapping letter grades for written evaluations and feedback lets parents and guardians know where their child stands relative to educational standards, and prompts them to enter into discussions to better understand what their child is learning in the classroom, so they can support these efforts at home.

When children are comfortable in the classroom, free of the worry and effort of achieving an A, learning can become a joyous, participatory experience in which knowledge is sought for its own sake — which is, or ought to be, the whole point of education.