School System

I believe we have lost the true definition of grading. Or, more appropriately, the meaning behind grading.

Grades are meant to be a representation, as accurately as possible, describing a child's intellectual grasp of whatever subject the mark is in. However, the institution of homework and extremely strict due dates on projects, as well as the nearly universal grading of "binders", has entirely changed the meaning of the grades. They now reflect- regardless of which subject they are meant to describe- a child's memory, organization, and even healthiness, often more than they do the actual material being taught.

The first thing that should go is binders. Frankly, I have absolutely no idea why teachers include these in the grading curriculum. They measure a student's organization, the amount of dependable friends they have (for assignments they missed), and, perhaps most of all, a student's luck (i.e., a student's binder gets torn apart by their dogs, = screwed). The only reasoning I can possibly find for this is to prevent cheating (in classes where teachers do not collect homework). Beyond that, all the reasons are strictly non-subject oriented.

Homework should change as well. I am not saying it should be gotten rid of- I will not be that unreasonable. My reasoning is not that it's annoying, or even that it causes stress or lack of sleep. If homework is not done, the student should be punished. Their grades, however? Should not suffer. If a student does not do homework, but gets amazing grades elsewhere, on what grounds would a teacher be able to say "This student is average"? Discipline should govern homework (increasing discipline as the missing homework increases each term). But homework should not, as it does in so many classes today, govern grades as greatly as it does.

Finally, the last thing I'll touch upon (although not the last thing wrong with schools...) is deadlines. This, once again, completely reverses the fact that school should be based on intelligence. Projects should, obviously, exist- they are one of the most accurate assessments of a student's intellect- but teachers should be very flexible with the deadlines on them. And arguing with "That puts too much stress on the teachers" does not prove your point- in fact, all it does is move some of the stress off the hormonal teenagers onto the mature (often not) teachers- and it's the teacher's job. Allowing for stretched deadlines creates much, much more accurate grades, which allows students who could otherwise finish the term with a C to actually obtain the grade they deserve...

...and by deserve, I mean based on intelligence and learning capability for that particular subject. Nothing else.