Grading systems in middle school should be abolished.

I am going to begin by looking at my opponent's case, then move on to my own, and conclude with voting issues. My opponent first concedes to my point that slackers will continue to be slackers and overachievers will continue being overachievers whether or not there is a grading system in place. She then moves on the address the middle ground, those that are indifferent towards learning. According to my opponent, the grading system poses as a barrier for those indifferent towards learning, so that they only do what is necessary and "there is no incentive for doing more". However, without the presence of a grading system, there is no incentive at all. In a school with a grading system, the grade acts as the incentive for students to do the best that they can in order to ensure the best grade that they can achieve. In a school without a grading system, there is no incentive for doing the best that a student can do for those that are indifferent to learning, since they are not motivated to learn. My opponent brings up the incentive regarding "the fun of not knowing how well you can do" that she claims is only present in the absence of the grading system for those that are indifferent about learning. Students that are indifferent about learning neither care about learning nor intentionally try to avoid learning. Students who do not care about learning, which includes the category of "indifferent students", will not see "the fun of not knowing how well you can do" as an incentive, since they do not actively care about "knowing". Therefore, with a grading system in place, students are more motivated to learn than without a grading system, and students will learn more. Moving on to my opponent's second contention, my opponent states that students who fail an assignment are likely to be embarrassed, and they will not want to tell their parents or ask for help. She says that by eliminating grades, we are eliminating stress. Though this may appear to be true at first, in actuality, if we eliminate grades, we are making life much more stressful for these students in their future. If a student gets an F on an assignment, they will feel stressed, yes. And they will most likely not like this stress. Therefore, on their next assignment, regardless of whether or not they asked for help or not, they will not want to fail another assignment, and this will encourage students to work harder and try to be better. Students don't want to fail, and if failing is a possibility, students will be motivated to try not to fail. Once again, this has shown that grades act as a strong motivator for students to work harder and try their best. Regarding my opponent's third contention, my opponent claims that written evaluations should be done without the use of a grading system. I believe that there is no reason to eliminate the grading system altogether, regardless of whether or not written evaluations are in place. My opponent says that an overall grade increases stress. Realize, however, that not all stress is bad. In fact, stress is often times good. According to psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Tan of Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, "Stress is a burst of energy. It's our body telling us what we need to do."[1] As I have stated in response to her second contention, eliminating stress altogether just makes everything more stressful in the future, because without grades to give you a standardized indicator of a student's progress, a student will be even farther behind when they arrive in a high school with a grading system. By establishing grades early on, in middle school, students are given small amounts of stress to prepare them for the stress of high school, and even decrease that stress. Therefore, middle school grades actually decrease stress rather than increase it. I would now like to move on to my own case. In response to my first contention, my opponent says that it would be "kind of pointless" to have both a written evaluation system and a grading system at the same time. Middle school, she says, is supposed to be a time of focusing on students' strengths and weaknesses, and generic grades do not do this. However, grades can serve as a way of determining strengths and weaknesses. If a student were to get an B- on an essay about the laws of physics, and a A on an assignment on a creative art project, it should be clear to the student that they are better at creative art than writing about the laws of physics. By comparing one's own grades, a student can learn their strengths and weaknesses. A written evaluation may be a useful addition, but whether or not a written evaluation is used is not the purpose of this debate. Therefore, since grades provide a standard way of communicating how much a student knows, it is useful for students, parents, and teachers. Next, my opponent brings up the point that there are many examples of good ways to motivate students, and that written evaluations are just one of these ways. She does not, however, bring up any points that counter the contention itself, the fact that grades do, in fact, motivate students. Since grades motivate students, there is no reason why we should abolish them in order to use other means of motivations. My opponent then states that written evaluations are a better form of feedback than grades, because this gives students a way to know how they're doing, what they need to be doing, and what they're doing well. However, she does not give any reason for why written evaluations should be used as a replacement for the grading system. My opponent is providing alternatives that could be used in addition to the grading system for greater effect, instead of as a replacement. Finally, in response to my final contention, my opponent says that teachers don't need to use a grading system in order to see what students understand. However, with so many papers to grade, it can often be useful for teachers to see exact numbers that show which areas students are struggling in, and what needs to be focused on more. If 75% of students understand one topic, and 80% understand another topic- it would be helpful for the teacher to begin by explaining the concept that only 75% students understand. Without looking at exact numbers and percentages, it might be difficult for the teacher to know what needs more improvement. Finally, I conclude with voting issues. My opponent has suggested alternatives to the grading system, such as written evaluations, that do not specifically give reason for the grading system to be abolished. I strongly urge you to vote Neg in this round because I have established a case that explains why the grading system is useful for students, and have refuted all reasons as to why the grading system is not good for students. For these reasons, the grading system should not be abolished. [1] http://www.msnbc.msn.com...