Nate Griffith

Mrs. Thomas

UWRT 1104

28 February 2019

Word Count- 647

Do Grades Do Justice to Students’ Knowledge? Commented [1]: Captialize all the words in titles
except little ones like "to"

Narrative- Many people, even those in powerful positions in companies, would argue that

grades are less important than many people make them out to be. Some would argue that Commented [2]: Good point. Consdier being more
specific than "many people." Teachers? parents?
getting good grades just means you’re good a getting good grades, but it does not necessarily educators?

mean you have the knowledge or intuition on the same level as your grades. I have had

experience in the past where I have studied information solely for the sake of taking a test. Commented [3]: then forgotten the material?

Many other students I have talked with have had similar situations where they do not

necessarily “learn” the information on the test but cram as much as they can and regurgitate it

for the exam after which they forget most of what they studied. This, however, is not the only

issue with exams. This investigation of sorts calls into question the ethics surrounding exams.

Sure, teachers would prefer students not cheat on their exams, but any student in high school or

university knows that cheating is rampant. All of this considered, the validity of grades in school

is certainly questionable.

Context- Throughout much of the history of western education, grades have been used as an

assessment for student comprehension and knowledge. Generally, people attribute success in

life, to success in the working world. Just as many colleges look at a student’s grades when

admitting them into college, many employers will gauge a person’s worth to their firm based on

the same numbers. The reason for this seems fairly straightforward, better student then, better

student/employee now. Hire someone who can understand detailed information and is

committed to success.
Previous Knowledge- The majority of my prior knowledge on the topic comes from experience.

Generally, people I knew that get good grades, go to good colleges. I am not old enough yet to

see first-hand how this translates to the real world however. I have heard from various sources

including entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk denouncing high school and the American

education system in general. They seem to lean to the side of grades being rather irrelevant to a

person’s workforce potential.

Evidence- The book “Make it Stick” is centered around productive habits that lead to successful Commented [4]: italics only for books

learning. Some of the topics discussed in the book show a clear contrast to the study habits of

even some of the highest GPA holding students. “Why Don't Students Like School?” is another

title that asks why it is students will remember very small details from a TV show, but can’t

remember what they learned in class the day before. The book explores this topic in detail and

takes a look at where the disconnect between students and school is.

Keywords-

● Learning, retention

● Success, academic, workplace

● Grades, good, bad

● Student’s knowledge

● Education, purpose

Perspectives- For additional perspectives on the topic, asking people that have already

succeeded in life as far as their professional career is concerned. Asking teachers and

professors could also be of good use as they may be able to provide some insight into the

correlation between a student’s knowledge and their grades. Commented [5]: Good overall. GPA does usually
matter when applying to graduate schools. I'd be
Geography- The population of North Carolina should be enough to gather evidence in my curious to see if some employers ask for GPA. I'm
thinking most do not.
research, but this can always be expanded to include a larger portion of the United States. I

likely will not mention much in regards to international education and their grading system

unless it presents itself as inherently useful information.

Specific Questions- How does success in school correlate to wealth?

Do grades in high school and in university yield different results when related to knowledge?

Importance- The research involved with this question may result in a conclusion of “what is truly

important in school”. If grades are found to not necessarily equate to success, what does? This

is a very valuable question to have an answer to.