The desklamp on senior Natalia Camelo’s desk has not gone out for hours.
After rereading notes, studying flashcards, and playing review games all night, Camelo is confident for tomorrow’s test. However, tomorrow comes and the test is much harder than expected – Camelo doesn’t receive the grade she had worked so hard for. Camelo feels that it is unfair that she has put so much effort, and wishes she could have an assignment that directly reflected her effort.
There are students who, despite studying hard, still continue to achieve poor grades – some argue that teachers should begin grading less based on accuracy and more based on effort. This pressing issue is addressed in the article “No, You Don’t Get an A for Effort” by Adam Grant, published on Dec. 26, 2024 in The New York Times.
“My overall averages match my amount of effort in the class, but typically my individual assessments do not reflect how much time I spend studying,” senior Natalia Camelo said. “Typically, my understanding of a subject’s material comes from paying attention in class and reviewing at the end of units, but on progressive assessments my grades vary and are often not tied to a consistent amount of effort.”
Camelo’s experience shows how individual test scores might not capture the hours of preparation behind them. Although there may be a disconnect between the time students spend studying for assessments and their results, senior Zayna Dilawar still believes effort should not entirely determine grades.
“I would not want grades off of effort, because mastery of a topic is vital to learning,” Dilawar said. “If I struggle with a topic and put effort into it, I’d want more practice available and an updated grade once I understood the topic properly.”
Regardless of whether students are graded based on effort or mastery, students agree that putting in hard work to maintain good grades is vital.
“School learning, studying to get good grades, is more for students to be able to discern what they would like to do later in life by trying their best in everything new,” senior Samuel Soria said.
Regardless of the way work is graded, students must put their very best into the work they complete, not only for short-term success with grades, but also for long-term learning. However, it can be discouraging when students spend hours using a plethora of study strategies and revising notes several times, only to find themselves receiving little or no improvement.
“When viewing a task and scoring it, it isn’t always easy to discern who has ‘tried hard’,” English II AAC and AP English Language teacher Faith Orsargos said. “Some students spend hours preparing at home doing things we simply can’t see or know, while others don’t give it any outside of class thought.”
Students may be heavily discouraged when their hard work is not reflected in their grades, but there are many alternatives to recognizing their efforts.
“I do think hard work should be rewarded,” Orsargos said. “I don’t know that work should be rewarded fully by grades in every instance, but teachers should work to be able to recognize the efforts of their students even if by verbal recognition.”
Finding the right balance between rewarding effort and maintaining academic standards remains a complex challenge in education. While grades may not always perfectly reflect a student’s dedication and hard work, they serve as important indicators of subject mastery.
“I think [grading based on effort] can help, but shouldn’t necessarily be the predominant approach because students will quickly stop trying, because they will just expect a grade for anything they do, however low quality it may be,” Orsargos said. “Part of the struggle is that students slowly have gotten to a point of only being willing to try when there is a merited grade on the line.”
