A school without grades

To me, the goal of education is to foster a sense of curiosity in the students, to encourage them to explore the world around them and try to find ways to make it better. I think that this has been forgotten in many of the universities in the United States today. Too many times education boils down to competition for the best letter grade. And this should not be what education is about.

I have recently transferred from Tufts to a small school in Florida. Having the chance to compare the different education styles of these two schools is an amazing opportunity that I am very grateful for. The school that I am at now does not give grades; instead professors are required to write detailed evaluations of each student's strengths and weaknesses and how they can improve.

At this school, the students have much greater control over their own curriculum than at Tufts. There are only a few general requirements that can be filled quickly so that students can take what they are interested in for the majority of their time. If there is something a student wants to learn about that is not offered as a class, they can do a semester long research project on the subject that will count as a class. You are allowed to design your own classes as long as there is a professor willing to work with you on whatever subject you choose. For example, I designed a class on animal learning, which consists of me and a professor, one on one. The majority of my classes are under 10 people.

During my two years at Tufts, I constantly felt pressure to get the best letter grade possible. Being compared to other students through letters only is an unfair way of evaluation, as each student is different and has different strengths and weaknesses. It does not help the student improve because it does not tell you how you can improve. It only tells you what you got right and what you got wrong. In many cases, I would study my hardest, go get as much help before a test as I could, and still only come out with a B because I was being compared to other students totally different than me. This was extremely frustrating for me. At Tufts there seem to be endless requirements that students continue to fill many times throughout their senior year. This left me little room to take classes that I was interested in if they did not count towards a requirement or my major.

My two years at Tufts left me constantly discouraged, unhappy, and frustrated. I was studying constantly, and never actually thinking about what I was learning and what good it would do for me. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life because the school left me little time to explore my own personal interests. It diminished whatever curiosity I had. Now, after only a few months at my new school, I am once again curious about the world around me. My professors tell me what I am doing well, and what I can improve on. I do not feel pressure to have the "A" anymore, and this only makes me want to work harder. I have realized that education is about learning, and not about getting grades.

For some people, Tufts works. Some people don't need the personal attention that I need from my professors and administrators. Some people find the pressure of letter grades to be encouraging. But on the whole, a Tufts education, as the majority of universities in the country, is missing something vital. The purpose of education is to train tomorrow's leaders. If students are not allowed to participate in their own education, they may never learn to question the world around them. If they do not learn constructive ways of improving themselves, they may never have the interest in improving the world around them for future generations.

"The proper aim of education is to promote significant learning. Significant learning entails development. Development means successively asking broader and deeper questions of the relationship between oneself and the world. This is as true for first graders as graduate students, for fledging artists as graying accountants." - Laurent A. Daloz (20th century), U.S. educator.

Sara Crowell is now a junior at New College in Florida after spending two years at Tufts.