RE: How Much Importance Do You Place On Grades?
When I was a high school math teacher, I literally spent the entire year preparing my students for the State STAAR test, because their scores on this test where the most important thing to my administrators, and if our students do well, our own jobs were on the line.
But, the actual test is so silly and nonsensical. A passing score was around 32%.....So the test was made so ridiculously hard, that only a 32% was needed to pass. It's so wrong and backwards.
I wish more schools could be designed in your "ideal" way, where grades don't matter. Where students are engaged because they WANT to learn, where kids have the freedom to focus on their true talents and passions, rather than having to have the same schedule as everyone else (ALWAYS math, ALWAYS science, ALWAYS reading/writing, RARELY arts/creative expression....).
I know it is possible to rewrite the system, and more and more schools are doing it. I just can't wait till we reach some kind of "tipping point" and these types of schools become the norm.
You're right @rainbowrachel. Talents are usually wasted in school. The assessment scales are so generic that they think every student will show the same abilities.
Scores are the only thing they got to measure student's quality. But it can be confusing. There are people that dont' show potential not because they lack capacities. Most of the time, school doesn't provide motivation because it is commonly asking for a number through a series of exams.