Audrey I.

Jastia BABA 1A February 8, 2019

Ms. Chavez

Argumentative Essay Outline:

Do Grades Define One’s Individual Competency?

Thesis Statement:

A student’s individual competency is typically measured through GPAs, class ranking,

and test scores which should not be the case and people should see beyond just numerical

figures.

Major point:

1. Tests do not encourage the pursuit of knowledge but of great grades.

a) Students are memorizing lessons to answer examinations.

b) Every one’s goal is to get high scores despite the knowledge they’re getting from

school.

c) They study not to learn but to get high grades.

Counter-argument: It indicates perseverance which is a great value in life for someone to

possess.

2. Pressure can lead to lowering one’s self esteem and cause them to under perform.

a) A very bright student had once a low grade and so never believed in one’s

capability anymore.

b) One has failed a subject and also believed has failed in life.

c) A low score as judgement of one’s future.

 Counter-argument: Even under pressure, a competent student could still manage to have

good grades.

3. Test scores does not reflect how intelligent and knowledgeable a person would be in the

real world.

a) The ones who are most likely to survive in their working environment are those who

knows how to deal with others than those who only know a lot about the work itself.

b) Many worldwide achievers are recognized because of their skills and not their

intellect.

c) The world is so much bigger compared to a four-corner classroom for a student’s

ability to be immediately judged.

Counter-argument: Having high grades in school would mean greater job opportunity.

Conclusion

 Studying would be more focused on the amount of learning.

 Without pressure, there would be many more students who would believe on their own

abilities and could achieve even more than what is expected of them.

 Students would have wider perspective of things without limiting themselves just

within the walls of the classroom.

Audrey I. Jastia BABA 1A February 8, 2019

Ms. Chavez

Do Grades Define One’s Individual Competency?

Getting an “A” grade and being in a prestigious school does not indicate intelligence.

Likewise, it does not imply that a person is unintelligent when a remark of “D” was received

(Sutherland, 2017). Grades does not define one’s individual competence due to some other

factors that affects the performance of a student. A student’s individual competency is typically

measured through GPAs, class ranking, and test scores which should not be the case and people

should see beyond just numerical figures. Tait (2015) states that many skillfully gifted and

brilliant individuals have been overlooked due to the inadequacy of tests provided in

determining one’s intellect. Grades are not measurement of one’s competency for having high

grades does not guarantee more learning, some brilliant students are pressured by the society,

and thus being recognized as intelligent in school must not be a warranty of surviving the course

of real life.

High grades are results of high scores from tests which are standardized for all students in

an institution. “Because standardized tests are created to be unbiased and objective, they

supposedly ensure that the scores a student receives is an accurate measurement of ability and

progress” (Gawthrop, 2014, p. 6). With that being said, tests do not encourage the pursuit of

knowledge but of great grades. One indication is that in answering examinations, students are

memorizing lessons which are covered by the exams. Instead of gaining understanding to what

is being taught in classes, students resort to memorization which are for short-term use only.

Despite the knowledge they’re getting from school, getting high score still is the goal. Never

mind how much has been learned as long as the person gets high grades there’s no problem at
all. In addition, students study not to learn to but to get high grades. Here comes in the student’s

desperation to reach that goal and so some engage in cheating which proves how scores are not a

result of one’s own intellectual ability. This just proves that high scores are due to memorized

answers and share of intellect. A student is so eager to attain such goal that every possible way

that comes to mind would be considered. Though, keeping a goal of having high grades is not

totally a bad idea. It just indicates perseverance which is a great value in life for someone to

possess.

Personal problems because of pressure given by the society are experienced by majority.

Problems being personal, sometimes it could not be identified immediately to be the cause of

someone’s sudden incapacity. Pressure can lead to lowering one’s self esteem and cause them to

under perform. It is indeed true that instead of determining one’s intelligence, examinations are

more of detecting your patience meter (“Are Examinations a Fair Way”, n.d.). Typically, tests

have time limits and it causes you to become conscious of getting the right answers and at the

same time getting it all done on time which leads to pressure that makes both impossible to

achieve. Imagine an intelligent person being a victim of this. That very bright student had once a

low grade and so never believed in one’s capability anymore. We lose a lot of things in the

process of life but the one thing that we must not is our belief in ourselves. When nobody

believes in us, it always comes down to our own support. Once we stop believing in ourselves,

we start judging ourselves based on what others think about us and what the society is telling us

which results to giving up on everything that we have built for ourselves. It is just so easy to

give up just as how one who failed a subject to believe also has failed in life. How tragic that

one failure in a four corner classroom becomes a failure of life. It’s not that you are unintelligent

enough but it’s just that a test limits ourselves of what we are more capable of. A failed student
sees low score as judgement of one’s future. Just because a person receives low test scores,

there’s no bright future anymore. Indeed, pressure is a critical factor that affect one’s decision. It

drives someone to feel like a failure and deals with it as if his whole life depended on it.

Nevertheless, a competent student could still manage to have good grades even under pressure.

Not that one is not competent when he cannot manage under pressure but everyone is capable of

such. It is all about mindset and how we see things in our own perspective.

Test scores does not reflect how intelligent and knowledgeable a person would be in the real

world. The success of a person does not solely depend on the knowledge perceived by the test

results because “success requires the ability to communicate complex ideas to a diverse team of

people, relentlessly pursue solutions, and explore possibilities beyond current knowledge”

(Zoeckler, 2013, “Do Grades Determine Success?”, para. 10). The ones who are most likely to

survive in their working environment are those who knows how to deal with others than those

who only know a lot about the work itself. It may be of factor to be good at work when there is

excellent knowledge but it could be a downside if that person lacks good character trait.

According to Zoeckler (2013), character is a determinant of success. It is much similar as how

one should prioritize emotional quotient (EQ) over intellectual quotient (IQ) in order to deal

with life successfully. Many worldwide achievers are recognized because of their skills and not

their intellect. If grades define how intelligent a person is then all achievers must have finished

college and received their diplomas, but that is not the case. There are people who did not excel

in school during their times but are successful today. Just like Mo Yan from China who was

awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature despite only having primary education. The world is

so much bigger compared to a four-corner classroom for a student’s ability to be immediately

judged. The knowledge obtained is just as limited as the four-corner classroom. Students cannot
explore more of their abilities because it was controlled by the school’s system so it is concluded

that the competency of a person would only fully bloom once they are out of their cages and has

been given the freedom of the real world. It may pertain to how inconsequential having high

grades are but it still got its advantage in the corporate world. Having high grades in school

would mean greater job opportunity. By that, one would be saved from the misery of being

jobless in the future.

Grades definitely does not and would not define one’s individual competency. Grades are

the result of tests that do not encourage the pursuit of knowledge but of great grades. Not all can

manage to work under pressure that can lead to lowering one’s self esteem and cause them to

under perform. Nobody should see themselves as a failure because test scores does not reflect

how intelligent and knowledgeable a person would be in the real world. A student’s individual

competency is typically measured through GPAs, class ranking, and test scores which should not

be the case and people should see beyond just numerical figures. Thinking that this notion would

be changed towards the indication of one’s capability, then studying would be more focused on

the amount of learning gained than of actually just attaining the desired grades. Without

pressure, there would be many more students who would believe on their own abilities and could

achieve even more than what is expected of them. Lastly, students would have wider perspective

of things without limiting themselves just within the walls of the classroom.
 References

Are Examinations a Fair Way of Testing Our Knowledge? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://debate

wise.org/debates/1215-are-examinations-a-fair-way-of-testing-our-knowledge/

Are Test Scores a Good Indication of a Student's Competency? (2017, April 18). Retrieved from

https://phdessay.com/are-test-scores-a-good-indication-of-a-students-competency/

Gawthrop, J. (2014). Measuring student achievement: A study of standardized testing and its

effect on student learning.

Sutherland, A. (2017, April 27). Grades don't correlate with a student's intelligence. Retrieved

from http://www.statepress.com/article/2017/04/spopinion-grades-do-not-correlate- with-a-

students-intelligence

Tait, P. (2015, June 17). Intelligence cannot be defined by exams. Retrieved from https://www.

telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/11678216/Intelligence-cannot-be-defined-by-

exams.html

Zoeckler, G. (2013). Camp Champions Blog. Retrieved from http://blog.campchampions.com/

do-grades-determine-success