Grades

Everyone knows what grades are. They are the reason most kids study in school, and the reason most of us remember school with contempt.

Good grades get us from elementary school to the right high school, then to the right college, in the right program, so we can get the right interviews to the right jobs and finally enter the energy-depleting interminable rat race.

Grades are usually compiled using test scores which measure superficial comprehension and memorization. Instead of fostering a love of knowledge and learning, they create anxiety, lower self-esteem and provide an inaccurate measure of one’s intellectual capacity.

Alfie Cohen writes in his book, The Case Against Standardized Testing : “Tests measure what matters least, reinforcing compliance and standardized thinking rather than creativity and innovation. In addition, tests offer little insight into the quality of instruction in a school.�?