The grading system is the basis of America's and many other countries' educational programs. That fact is unfortunate. In this very article, I plan to show just how nonsensical the grading system really is.

First of all, in most cases, the teachers have never even met their students before the first day of the class. Of course, sometimes the students have had the same teacher for a previous class, but that's not relevant to my point. You see, the teacher rarely ever gets to know the student very well, and vice versa. The student-teacher relationship generally remains a business-like, strictly in-classroom relationship. So, when the teacher grades an essay the student writes, or a laboratory report the student fills out, the teacher really knows very little of the student's knowledge or skills. Furthermore, the student may have no interest in the subject matter of the work that s/he is assigned to complete, which has a profound impact on his/her concentration. Therefore, I do not view a teacher's grade on a student's work as necessarily an accurate measurement of its value. Thus, in my opinion, that grade is not a reliable indicator of what the student is capable of achieving.

Unfortunately, our colleges and universities can choose just which student applicants they desire, and the applicants' high school grades are often of mammoth importance in determining whether they are accepted or rejected by these "higher institutions of learning."

Although I firmly believe that our grading system should be abolished - because the principles of it are unsound, and it is detrimental to the effective education of students - I am not sure what sort of system should replace it. I would appreciate reading responses and/or suggestions other readers have. n