Photo of the word success by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

In the United States, success is entirely quantified. In an educational setting, one’s success is defined not by what they understand, but by a number in their grade book that indicates their supposed success in a course. While grades can correlate with success, they can never tell the full story of a student’s abilities and growth. There are thousands of factors contributing to a student’s success, and quantifying it through a grade is a flawed, outdated way to measure it. As a result, it can be concluded that something needs to change. More specifically, I view it to be an absolute necessity that the way we define academic success is redefined. 

Before diving into a revamped idea of success, it is imperative to provide context for how our current ideas of academic success came to be and the effects they have had. All the way back in 1785, Yale University began adopting a grading system to standardize the measurement of success and rank students. It was divided into four performance groups, much like modern American schools, which are divided into five. These five are: A, the highest; B, the second-highest; C, the middle tier; D, the second-lowest tier; and F, the failing grade. The grading system made it easy for high schools to numerically measure a student’s supposed success. Eventually, the five-group grading system would spread to nearly every American public school, and the effects would be dire.

When discussing the effects of the five-group grading system on American students, it is necessary to start by emphasizing the stress it causes. Because getting good grades and getting into a good college are the only ways to achieve social mobility outside of being born into wealth or getting lucky (usually through the lottery), students often find themselves stressing to get the highest grades they can. Furthermore, a recent study found that 83% of students cite pressure to get good grades as a major contributor to their stress. McCaskey junior Zymeirah Miles added that their stress arises from “others, college, high unrealistic standards from the American grading system, and my own fear of failure.” Additionally, McCaskey sophomore Jaylyn Patterson has also experienced significant stress at McCaskey. She argued that her academic stress comes from “teachers or other staff members. I am a perfectionist who has fallen from grace.” Seeing the stories of Zymeirah and Jaylyn, it can be concluded that defining a student’s success by their grades is negatively affecting their state of mind. 

Photo of a stressed student by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

It is also important to note that, while students recognize their own stress, they accept it in the hope of achieving social mobility through education. I myself have fallen to this. I actively partake in the system I argue so valiantly against. I am but a mere cog keeping the well-oiled gears in the factory that the American education system is moving. Despite realizing the American education system has pushed this dangerous idea of success on me, I still chase this misnomer of success in hopes of someday having the opportunity to study at a top university. I was born in the house of a Yale graduate. From the moment I was born, I was spoonfed ideas of academic success not only by the country, but by the fear of not meeting the expectations I was born into. I, along with thousands of other students across the country, willingly lose hours of sleep, sacrificing years of our lives, all in an effort to chase the American ideal of academic success.

It should also be mentioned that limiting the negative effects of this phenomenon to simply stress would be shortsighted. Such problems stretch far beyond stress, and McCaskey chemistry teacher Mr. Hatch would note one major issue arising from America’s flawed grading system, which, as stated earlier, defines a student’s success.

A picture of McCaskey chemistry teacher Mr. Hatch.

During an interview, Mr. Hatch would propose an interesting argument. He believes the grading system is depriving students of their curiosity to learn. He added that, “Our curiosity is essentially beaten out of us little by little as our parents and other authority figures ask us to care about what others think is important-what skills they decide we should be good at.” He would back up his claim by citing a study that compared two groups: one who played the piano for fun and one who played the piano for an incentive. The study found that the group who played the piano for fun enjoyed the activity more than the group who played it for an incentive. Mr. Hatch argues that this can be extended to our school system. He believes that students will find more success if they can find inner motivation rather than rely on a grade to motivate them. He argued that “If you want to accomplish any deep thinking, you’ll be more effective focusing on the task, rather than the reward (grade) it will bring.”

As the problems posed by the five-group grading system have become increasingly paramount, a new question has arisen: How can we overhaul our conception of academic success to foster a stress-free educational system in which students are motivated to learn without the incentive of a letter grade? One’s answer to this may differ from another’s, but Mr. Hatch has tried his own ideas in his classroom. For instance, he allows students to submit late work for full credit. Obviously, employing such strategies would initially discourage students from completing their work as they can just do it later. This is why Mr. Hatch emphasizes that students fully understand the content before they are allowed to resubmit an assignment. This reduces stress among his students and allows them to fully grasp the material without worrying about a grade. The success of Mr. Hatch’s ideas proves that there are alternatives to the five-group grading system in public schooling.

A subsequent idea some have proposed is to allow students to create their own definitions of success by setting their own goals. Obviously, such goals would have to be real, attainable educational goals, but allowing them to set their own goals would let them pick a topic that might interest them, pushing them to work towards their self-set goals. In addition, teachers can assist students in setting goals by ensuring they are both difficult and attainable if the student puts their mind to it. 

To define a student’s success in numerical terms through a grade is to limit them both as academics and people. Not allowing students to learn for the sake of learning about the world, but rather than giving them false promises of social mobility through attaining high grades, has taken a toll on them. Students are more stressed than ever. Students are losing more sleep than ever. And, just as importantly, students accept this reality under the false promise that they can achieve social mobility through education alone. The need for America to change its definition of academic success cannot be overstated enough, and it is up to the future leaders of this country to rewrite that dangerous definition once and for all.

Author Note: This piece is a heavily opinionated editorial that does not reflect the views of all students and staff at McCaskey High School. It is not meant to be taken as fact, but rather as an alternate view on a commonplace system in the American public education system.