This is a reflective essay i wrote for my english class. Just posting it as a new point of quality.

If you guys have critiques let me know.

Otherwise thanks for taking the time to read.

_________________________________________________________________________

Kevin Drewett
Professor Kerry Jeager
Composition I MWF 9:00-10:00
19 February 2014
A Reflective Essay on Academic Grading
Grades in My Life
Academic grading became an oddity in America , lingering in the air of the educational system like a plague. Individuals breath this air and try to earn high grades, while normally acceptable, preferred to actual learning. The “A's” and “B's” resulting from the mass standardization of school curriculum, homogenization of teachings based on age group, and education people with knowledge versus wisdom. These functions of public education cause problems leading a lack of questions being asked, however, in order to comprehend and understand this claim, one must ask, “What is a grade?” and “Why are they important?”
Looking at the history of the letter grade, historians have learned that modern public education was conceived in the enlightenment era and initialized in the industrial revolution. The goal of public education was to benefit society by allowing a boom in prosperity brought about by a smarter and better equipped society. The pass and fail machinations of the public school system successfully determined those who could succeed and those best relegated to common worker roles, and for three-hundred years, this worked well. In the beginning of the public education system, people strove for grades because they properly indicated progressive and higher level thinking, as well as a representation of knowledge, but today they just show basic knowledge and reduced higher level thinking. Yet, students want to go to collage with only a knowledge of how to think and not a practical application of such processes. Back in the 1960's post collage job placement was more than double what it transformed into today. Why such a strong decline in job placement? Job placement has fallen in consistency because more and more collage graduates fail in getting the education early on to fully comprehend what they learn in collage, and as such, fail to fulfill the roles they have studied for.
During my time in school, I attempted to get C's and B's in class rather then A's, sufficently passing classes was my goal, leading me to become a distraction to others. While not a problem for the teacher, my divergent outbursts, fiddling, and doodling often served as a distraction to students, seeking only to pass the class, abhorrent of any divergent thoughts which would otherwise lead to personal or creative growth. Divergent thinking lacked in the silent halls of learning as adamant administrators stared down students, punishing those who sought to exceed standards and expectations. These students, who bucked the curve and grew as individuals, faced a frightening choice of conformance or self expression. Their behavior treated harshly and met with horrifying adversity. This became the normal course of action when such students caused a risk of reduced funding because others could not keep pace. Teachers and administrators created a program called “No Child Left Behind,” creating a rubber band effect that fixed funding problems caused by advanced and struggling students.
Being affected by this program, I struggled to maintain interest in school, and soon became the subject of severe bullying. Harassment, theft, and physical abuse wracked my daily life, causing my grades to fall to “D's” and “F's” as I grew progressively distant from learning, falling to the point of suicide, bleak darkness purveying my every waking moment. Poor grades acting as negative reinforcement of attempts at personal and intellectual growth. My mother witnessed these erosive and detrimental events, seeking to correct them, moving away to a new town. Soon, my mind began to heal and my effort was once again rewarded, grade regaining worth, providing a better learning experience. However, divergent thinking, which allows people to think outside of normal parameters to solve everyday problems, existed in a way which was still frowned upon. The school system teaching knowledge over wisdom, diminishing the value of nonlinear thinking and creativity, a cardinal flaw in the educational system. Flaws such as these reduce the ability for children to succeed, and teaches them to only think in a linear way. “'A' plus 'B' always equals 'C'.” The dogma of modern education. The direct consequences of these actions are shown in the continuous decline is cognitive thinking capacity in adults, becoming more and more placated to simply listen and not think, knowing only that which is told to them. “'A' plus 'B' always equals 'C'.” Convergent thinkers believe, “Well if 'A' and 'B' equal 'C' what if 'D' or 'E' get involved? Then C is not the answer.” Divergent thinking leading into, “Well 'A' and 'B' are here, what if 'D' or 'E' are possible solutions as well? We can not rule anything out yet.”
The solutions to the problems I faced stare at me like an angry bull stairs down a matador. First,nonlinear thinking activities such as: listing uses for common items (divergent thinking), solve the mystery (convergent/deductive thinking), and musical/artistic interpretation (progressive/ inductive thinking) would have been fantastic. Next on the list of correct to have made school better for me, involves restoring funding to schools. I had to learn history, science, and English from books twenty years old. This was not acceptable. I caused me to be blind to a large amount of information that rushed me when I left Grafton, ND. Lastly, “No Child Left Behind” and “Common Core” need removal from our educational system. These two programs directly inhibited proper learning; reducing my academic capacity, restricting the abilities of teachers to teach; halting forward progression in my environment; and breeding a society of mentally moronic and incompetent people who have no ability to rationally think.
In my experiences with academic grading, I have come to the realization of the problem stems from the corruption in the political system, the introduction of these programs a manifestation of the desire to keep the populous placated with a false sense of accomplishment, and to help prevent kids from learning how to function in terms of rational, advanced, nonlinear thinking. My grades were meaningless, but if I can have even one child receive a proper education, then perhaps, the system is not a complete failure.