Do good grades matter?

For years, the education system has been fixated on students’ grades. Parents, schools, teachers and students are so focused on achieving high marks that it overshadows other priorities.

In many cultures, doing well in life translates to getting into prestigious professions and top universities. Schools, eager to attract more families and funding, often cater to these demands without question. This approach trivialises education, reducing it to a process of sitting for and scoring well in exams.

Decades of research connect this focus on test results to numerous issues, including academic dishonesty, dependence on extrinsic motivators and self-worth dilemmas among students. Teachers often end up teaching to the test, a bias that persists even in progressive school cultures. This focus limits time for reflection and the development of skills necessary for thriving in a post-pandemic, AI-entrenched working environment.

Why is focusing on grades bad?

Understanding the root of the problem is crucial. The current educational system has remained fundamentally unchanged for more than 200 years. While debates exist on whether its roots lie in colonialism or imperialism, both result in an industrial, mass-production model that encourages linearity and conformity.

Education decision-makers and policymakers – often not educators themselves – rely on metrics such as student grades and university admissions to measure success. However, these metrics rarely reflect whether students have truly learned something valuable or if they will succeed in life beyond graduation.

Research shows no correlation between post-graduation success and high grades. Valedictorians often end up in conventional jobs, while less academically successful students frequently pursue entrepreneurial and creative paths.

Studies also indicate that good grades can negatively impact students’ curiosity and resilience, with students who achieve full marks believing they are done learning or have very little to learn to achieve the ultimate pinnacle of learning: an A grade. This can lead to later struggles in higher education and in the workplace.

It’s essential to remind everyone that grades are merely one of many tools for college admission, not a measure of a student’s worth or potential.

Redefining success

When discussing whether or not grades are essential, the primary concern from stakeholders is, “how do we know if we have succeeded?” Redefining success and replacing grades with more meaningful targets is crucial.

For students and parents

Remind them that grades are just a gateway to academic careers. Unless students are aiming for highly selective schools or grants, they simply need to achieve high enough grades for university admission. Beyond that, their grades will not significantly impact their choices.

More importantly, students need to take on extracurricular activities, so they can learn and enhance skills such as time management, creative and critical thinking, and persistence. Success should be individually defined and personalised.

I found that using success stories that parents and students can relate to from the local or a familiar culture or from personal experience proved quite helpful.

For school leadership teams

School leadership teams are focused on tracking performance and resource allocation. Use local examples and school history to show that alumni success stories and retention rates are better indicators of school performance than grades.

Alumni who excel in life are excellent ambassadors for the school, providing valuable word-of-mouth marketing.

For teachers and administrators

Teachers understand that students are in school to learn for life, not just to achieve grades. However, societal pressures often push them back to teaching for tests.

Counsellors should work with teachers to shift the focus from test preparation to life skills, emphasising employability post-graduation. Working with administration to align appraisal systems to reward teaching practices that foster holistic development can drive this change.

Focusing on refining educational processes rather than merely celebrating results, regardless of how they are achieved, is fundamental. Changing a culture is a long and exhausting process, often met with resistance. Moving people out of their comfort zones requires persistence.

As we strive to prepare students for future challenges, we must equip them with the necessary tools and trust them to make the right decisions.

It has been said that we prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, to solve problems we don’t yet know are problems. Our goal should be to create the conditions for success –  rather than imposing our definition of it on students.