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"[T]he evidence is clear that marks [grades] constitute a very real and a very strong inducement to work, that they are accepted as real and fairly exact measurements of ability or of performance. Moreover, they not infrequently are determiners of the student’s career. They constitute the primary basis for election to honorary societies, for the award of various academic honors, for advancement from class to class, for graduation, and may even determine in some measure the student’s career after leaving the institution in which they have been assigned."
~ Isador Finkelstein, 1912
In Schneider, J., & Hutt, E. (2014). Making the grade: A history of the A–F marking scheme. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46(2), 201–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2013.790480
There is no solution of the grading problem satisfactory to all concerned. Students would like all A's, administrators would like few F's, and the teachers would like to be left alone. Grading is inevitable; it is, at best, inaccurate and unreliable.
Dressel & Nelson in Haagen, C. H. (1964). The Origins of a Grade. The Journal of Higher Education, 35(2), 89–91. https://doi.org/10.2307/1979782
This system encourages students to select courses which promise high grades for a minimum of effort. "The attainment of high grades is often perceived not as a key to success, but as success itself."
Gold, R. M., Reilly, A., Silberman, R., & Lehr, R. (1971). Academic Achievement Declines under Pass-Fail Grading. The Journal of Experimental Education, 39(3), 17–21.
“Grades are not a representation of student learning, as hard as it is for us to break the mindset that if the student got an A it means they learned,” said Jody Greene, special adviser to the provost for educational equity and academic success at UCSC.
Marcus, J. (2022, October 1). Momentum builds for helping students adapt to college by nixing freshman grades. The Hechinger Report. http://hechingerreport.org/momentum-builds-for-helping-students-adapt-to-college-by-nixing-freshman-grades/
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