IELTS Essay: Grades and Testing
Some people think that schools should not test and grade students. Others think that grades are important.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.
Many believe that schools should test and grade students, while others feel these stressful evaluations can be counter-productive. In my opinion, although testing can be useful, schools could be improved if there were no grades and students could learn with less pressure.
On the one hand, standardized testing allows students to measure their progress. Students and teachers are both able to utilize grades to understand if a student is excelling or struggling in any given subject. For example, in most high schools, students take a test before being placed into a mathematics course. If they excel at math, they will be placed in an advanced class and if their math skills are weaker, they will receive the support they need at a lower level. Over time and through repeated testing, students can move up or down levels and receive relevant practice and individualized learning. This is the basis of most educational systems and facilitates the practical organization of levels.
On the other hand, schools with reduced focus on grades encourage healthier growth. This approach is common in certain progressive European nations like Finland and Norway, which are famous for their de-emphasis on grades. Schools in Finland attempt to foster a positive learning environment where students feel free to make mistakes, play, and develop a lifelong passion for learning. With less anxiety and less of a burden to excel, students can focus on what they care about most and not become overly obsessed with gaining the esteem of their teachers and parents. The result is that Finland has consistently ranked as one of the strongest school systems internationally.
In conclusion, although grades are important for categorization, their elimination would allow students to learn better and flourish. Where possible, schools should seek to focus more on learning and less on testing.
could you share the topic of this essay?
There is an argument about whether examing and marking students are suitable for their development or put too much stress on them. In my opinion, tests and socres tell the important points of education to both teachers and students, and build a clear evaluation standard for society.
It is effective for teachers to understand what to teach and for students to know what should learn. Education plans of countries are set by advanced experts in education department, and the examinations are also designed by them. Teachers should follow the plans to teach instead of following their interests. It would be clearer for teachers to understand the key of plan by conducting exams. Because all teachers want a high score obtained by their students. As for students, they may pay useless attention to interesting parts of textbook rather than the key parts. For example, students may focus on interesting pictures in textbooks, and paint them during the whole class. As a result, exams and scores would improve the production of education.
For further and more productive development, we should have a fair standard to judge the learning levels of students. For further study, students have to prove if their intelligence is compatiable for schools or universities. If there is not a standard, schools can not evaluate students completely. Each school may cost more effort to consider a lucid standard. In the case of seeking a job, the transcripts of graduated students would tell what kinds of curriculums they have studied and the performances on class. It would likely be clear for human resourse department in company to decide the employment. Because officers in a company can not understand the knowledge of all areas.
In sum, conducting tests would propose a clear direction for educational activity and improve the development of society. In addition, the exams should not be too difficult for teenagers, which may cause too much stress.