Middle Schools Should Not Use Letter Grades

1a. Pro counters my point - the current system doesn't evaluate behavior and social skills - by saying that such standards can simply be factored in by giving students a number score. But again, the teacher can do the same thing with letter grades! They represent the same thing. The only difference is precision; for instance, an A- could be anywhere from scoring a 90-93. That 3 point scale is insignificant at the middle school level to any legitimate degree. Instead of giving a student a 2/10 for behavior, that 2/10 can just as easily be converted to 20% a.k.a. "F." 1b. Con Contention -- In terms of aspects like behavior and social skills, letter grades would be MORE appropriate than number grades. For instance, an "A" would represent way above average, a "B" would represent "above average," a "C" would represent "average," etc. So, if a teacher was grading one's participation, it would be a BETTER standard to rate it as "above average" a.k.a. giving them a "B" as opposed to a number grade like 82. Grading stuff like that numerically (social skills) seems really difficult, inconvenient and even detrimental. 1c. Con Contention -- To earn an "A" is to demonstrate above average proficiency. The great thing about an "A" is that what can be considered above average proficiency can alter in certain areas. For instance, in some subjects, tests or areas of education, an above average proficiency might mean only having to get a score of 60. If someone sees a 60% grade, they might assume automatically that one's proficiency has failed. However, if they see the person got an "A" then they will know the person has above average proficiency despite what the number represents. 2. Pro's next point is entirely non-sensical. He says that instead of a student being pressured to say, "I will get an A!" he will instead exclaim, "I will get above 90%!" However, since an A = above 90% then these 2 statements are saying the exact same thing! 3. Next, Pro points out that if 2 students both received an A- grade, then you wouldn't know who performed better because one could have gotten a 91 while one may have gotten a 92. As I pointed out, this is irrelevant. Hardly anything is so competitive in middle school that the precision of such a score (within 3 points) would be so significant that this is relevant. Further, this debate focuses on report card grades and test grades, so the student is only competing against himself. The grade reflects one's own knowledge of a subject, and not necessarily one's ability over other students. If a situation arose where there was some sort of intense competition, then teachers could (a) use number grades in those exceptions, or (b) find out other ways to determine a "winner" if option (c) of them both winning was not available. 4. Pro writes, "As I have stated before, if I get a test with a big red "A-" on it, what will I think will go on the report card?" You will know you scored above average with a score between 90-93 percent. Pro continues, "ALSO con HAS NOT STATED why less precision is better." My argument isn't that less precision is better, but irrelevant and unnecessary. Second, I've explained how letter grades can be better in some situations (1b, 1c). Third, I've explained how letter grades successfully demonstrate what the whole point of grading is: depicting one's proficiency in a subject area. Obviously someone who scores 92% and someone who score an A both demonstrate above average proficiency. 5. Pro says that with a letter grade, you won't know how many questions you got right. Actually, one will still be able to figure it out. If there were 20 questions on a test (worth 5 pts each) and I received an A- grade, then I know my score is between a 90-92. So, it's easy to see that I got between 1 and 2 questions wrong. I doubt there will be any type of "competition" that will make minor differences like this relevant. if there are, those situations can be accommodated to.