Schools should give grades

I will only summarize the existing debate and argue for why I deserve to win. First, let me briefly refute Con's arguments from Round 4: 1. ". .. the resemblance between schools and the workplace is a coincidence. " More or less, I agree with you. While some schools may be entirely coincidental, I would still maintain that others (e. g. trade schools) do focus on preparing their students for the real world. 2. ". .. you are contradicting yourself [on the purpose of grades]. .. " Let me reconcile my two statements. While grades do mostly serve an administrative role, they also simultaneously function as a motivator for most students. After all, what driven student doesn't want an "A" on his resume? Yes, I did seem to contradict myself. Hopefully that clarified what I meant. 3. "The essence of your argument is that grades are a motivator and that with grades, there would be no motivation for students to do any work at all. " Con's summary is almost 100% correct. Con slightly misrepresented me because I didn't say students would have no motivation if grades were removed. To the contrary, I said that personal aspiration would still remain. Other than that, Con correctly paraphrased my arguments. Responding to Con's counterargument, "There are lots of grade-free schools. .. . and none of them on record have ever experienced a 'Race to the Bottom' problem. " First of all, that's a very bold claim. Can Con really prove that "none of them" have ever run into difficulty? Con would need to provide evidence for this claim which, fortunately for me, was not submitted. Secondly, judging by Con's sources, many - if not all - grade-free schools are private schools. As such, private schools charge more for tuition and have more control over their curriculum. They can afford to, well, experiment. The Sudbury Valley School that Con cited is not analogous. Not only does this school not having a grading system, but it also has "no academic requirements, no curriculum, and no tests. " Moreover, this school charges parents $8,200 a year for tuition! [1] How many parents nowadays can afford $8,200 each year, possibly per each student? Clearly, this is a extremely lenient school that caters to upper-class families. This is not a viable replacement for American education. This resolution would not affect these private schools, Rather, they would affect public schools. Trying to compare private and public schools for solutions is not that easy because of the differentiating variables between them. Abolishing all grading paradigms across the United States public school system would result in a "Race to the Bottom" because grades are the only items that make public schools respectable. Unlike private schools, public schools are reliant on taxpayer dollars and are thusly on shoestring budgets. Public schools cannot afford to experiment on their reputations. Even as I write, the public schools' reputations hang on an ever thinning thread. Therefore, abolishing all grading systems would severely damage public schools and, by extension, their dependent students. Without grades, student have no reasons to study hard at a worthless school. So, in conclusion, a few crystalizing questions: 1. Do grades harm students? Hardly! The majority of students either care deeply about their grades or are apathetic (i. e. they don't care and, therefore, aren't harmed). Only a handful would be self-conscious enough and, honestly, terrible enough to be harmed by grades. 2. Should learning be performance driven? Learning should be tailored to the real-world, unless we want to institutionalize the proverbial "Ivory Tower. " Since the real world is performance driven, it follows that education should be as well. 3. Should grades be abolished? No. Perhaps reformed, but not abolished. For all of these reasons, I deserve to win. Source: [1] . http://blog.makewonder.com...