Learning should be fun and not something to be stressed about all the time. Grades are often seen as a straightforward way to assess academic performance; however, more often than not, the traditional grading system has increasingly been recognized as damaging to students’ mental health. The pressure to achieve high scores, fear of failure and the impact on self-esteem create a toxic cycle that detracts from the whole purpose of education: learning.

In the traditional educational system, a student’s learning is measured by letters and numbers preserved in a gradebook. This increases the pressure to succeed because grades are used as the ultimate measure of success, and this pressure intensifies as students compare their grades to their peers. Therefore, this grading system emphasizes the wrong thing, as it places the focus on competing for the highest grade rather than the joy of learning.

Research from the American Psychological Association reports that 61% of students feel stressed due to schoolwork, and a significant portion of that stress is attributed to getting good grades. This pressure can lead to anxiety, burnout and even depression. This can discourage students from taking risks and trying new things because they fear failure.

One of the most significant issues with grades is that they set an unrealistic expectation upon students to be proficient in every subject. The grading system fails to acknowledge that students have different strengths and interests. A student excellent at creative writing may be struggling in a science class, and vice versa. However, within the current education system, both are held to the same standard and the same grading scale, possibly leading to students defining themselves based solely on their grades instead of embracing learning as a journey. Truly enjoying learning leads to students retaining and gaining deeper understanding of a subject and promotes a growth mindset, which allows students to learn from their mistakes and develop resilience instead of focusing only on the outcomes.

When grades become an indicator of one’s self-worth, getting a low grade can feel like being a failure. Research from the National Institutes of Health shows that students who exhibit a decline in self-esteem due to academic stress are likely to have emotional and behavioral disinterest in learning. This leads to a drastic decline in self-esteem. A person who receives a low grade in one subject may equate themselves to being a failure, despite their abilities in other subjects.

Grades should not be the only way to display a student’s worth or success. Other methods of assessment include project-based learning, narrative comments and self-assessments. According to Lucas Education Research, students in project-based learning classrooms significantly outperformed students in typical classrooms. These ways of learning are associated with less stress and more engagement, allowing students to focus on the process of learning instead of constantly stressing about how their work will be graded.

It is essential to reconsider how academic achievement is measured. Education is about fostering a sense of creativity, critical thinking and curiosity in students. Grades should not be the only way to display a student’s worth or success. Different strategies should be implemented in order for students to stop focusing on the outcome and instead focus on learning the way it truly is: a process.

Updated 5/19 to add Podbean recording