Reflective piece

Grade fixation may be a problem that affects people all across the planet, including China, the us, and

therefore the Caribbean. But what makes this situation special is that it isn't acknowledged as a serious

concern among students. In today's society, getting a good grade on a test is considered vital to learning.

What they fail to consider is whether this need for a good score becomes the student's primary aim in life,

overshadowing even basic necessities like getting enough sleep, caring for their mental health, and truly

absorbing and learning what is being taught.

But what actually is learning? The process of obtaining new understanding, knowledge, actions, abilities,

beliefs, attitudes, and preferences is referred to as learning.Taking chances is one of the most effective

methods to learn. Students can do this by answering a difficult question in class or selecting a challenging

subject to study. However, according to the American Psychology Association, "many students avoid

taking unnecessary risks because the challenge could jeopardize their grades/grade point average " and

"Students make this choice rationally in order to minimize the chance of a poor performance." This

means that the human growth that comes with learning is significantly harmed as a result of fewer

students ready to take chances.

But, I'm sure you're thinking to yourself, "Don't students have to master the content to pass their exams?"

Yes, but with standardized testing, it emphasizes memorizing rather than learning. Standardized testing is

defined as when all test takers answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common

bank of questions, in the same way, and scoring in a "standard" or consistent manner, allowing students or

groups of students to compare their relative performance. Of course, this sounds nice in principle, but in

fact, everyone perceives and thinks differently, and thus expresses themselves differently, so the only

thing these examinations compare are the students' abilities to take a test and regurgitate knowledge.
Another problem with standardized testing is that it causes pupils to have strong emotions before, during,

and after exams. Students are preparing for these tests for an unreasonable length of time, causing

unneeded stress and unfavorable attitudes toward schools. Students have been shown to suffer incidences

of vomiting, headaches, sleep problems, depression, attendance troubles, acting out, and anxiety attacks as

a result of such stress. The National Institute of Health has discovered that "students with low grades tend

to have low self-esteem" and that "consistently low scores lessen overall motivation, creating the

impression on the student that they are not smart, not hard-working, and incapable of performing as well

as their peers" when the test results are returned. The effects of standardized testing can be better seen

from this quote from Paula Hawkins’ resignation letter when she said that “I have sweet, incredible,

intelligent children sitting in my classroom who are giving up on their lives already. They feel that they

only have failure in their futures because they've been told they aren't good enough by a standardized

test.”

Students and their parents use test grades to determine what the student understands and where the kid

needs guidance or needs to spend more time studying. However, because of the importance placed on

grades in the educational system, many students forget that grades do not define them. Every grade

contributes toward a student's total grade point average (GPA), which is important for internships, college

admissions, and job applications. While students place a high value on evaluating feedback, research

shows that descriptive feedback is far more beneficial for student learning. One study, for example, split

students into three groups: those who received descriptive input, those who received evaluation feedback

(grades), and those who received no feedback. The end result was“Providing evaluative feedback (in this

case, grades) after a task does not appear to enhance students’ future performance in problem-solving.

Students who received descriptive feedback, on the other hand, performed significantly better on all

subsequent tasks than students in the other two groups.”

So, since grades have such an impact on so many elements of a student's life, what can society do to help?

To begin with, society can minimize the number of standardized examinations that pupils are required to

take. Second, rather than providing evaluative feedback on these examinations and other assignments,

teachers can provide more descriptive comments. Students will be able to take risks, express themselves,

and appropriately manage their well-being if these measures are put in place and adequately enforced,

allowing them to appreciate and absorb what is being taught to them.