Top Six Reasons Graded Schooling is Failing Students

Graded schooling is a system based on grouping students into several grade levels based on approximate ages. Traditional public schools in the United States will organize students into four standard categories based on age, pre-school from ages 2-4, elementary school for ages 4-11, middle school for ages 11-14, and high school ages 14-18 with many sub-levels for each approximate year of age. For instance, most 6 and 7-year olds will be in the 1st grade. Graded schooling has existed in the United States since the 19th century, being introduced between 1848 and 1870.



1. Graded schooling is one-size-fits-all.

Graded schooling offers no flexibility. Students of a certain age are all placed in on classroom at a given school. Gifted and high-performing students often feel neglected, bored, and under-stimulated, making them loose their enthusiasm for school early on and often find themselves unable to relate socially to peers. Slower students often find themselves unable to keep up with their chronologically similar friends and end up feeling unintelligent and worthless and many students find themselves strong in one subject and weaker in another, in which the one-size-fits all nature of graded schooling leads to inappropriate placement in both areas. No two students of the same age are alike, and forcing a large number of approximately aged students into one or two classrooms is highly unfair, and detrimental to the learning process.



2. Graded schooling creates severe social segregation.


Graded schooling often influences social segregation among peers. Grades often play a huge role in who a student chooses to befriend. Students often stay within a narrow age grouping often only befriending children in their own grade, or no more than one to two grade levels above or below them. Graded schooling makes many older students feel superior and entitled to pick on younger students. Students become more arrogant when amongst younger peers as they become older. In most high-schools, seniors often engage in group bullying rituals that they perform on incoming freshmen,  in elementary schools fifth-graders feel entitled to authority over those in kindergarten. Students who try to join cliques outside a narrow age range are often rejected and ridiculed simply because of age and grade level.


3. Graded schooling creates many stereotypes.


Students are often initially judged by their grade level. Many false assumptions are often made about the cognitive and judgement capabilities of students in a certain grade level. Knowledge is often under or overestimated. Stereotypes and assumptions about a students personal interests and personal qualities are often made based on grade when every student is different. Many people tend to think of high-schoolers as sex crazed party-animals and troublemakers, while they also think of many pre-school students as irrational beings. High school students are often assumed to have more knowledge and maturity over middle-school students, when in many cases such is false.


4. Graded schooling has influenced many extra-curricular groups, summer camps, and private instructors to do the same.


Many summer camps will also categorize their sessions by age. This is a disadvantage to many students who are challenged planning wise with only one age-specified session, and many who attend summer camps have to hound and pester camp directors to allow them to attend a younger or older session. Many private instrumental instructors will often tailor their instruction to specific age categories, rather than the students abilities or learning speed and many child-prodigies and music students who progress above an average rate are troubled with teachers due to grade level. Extra-curricular groups will often limit participation above or below a certain grade level, resulting in many unhappy customers.

5. Graded schooling causes lots of unneeded stress.
  
With graded schooling, students and teachers alike have to stress over target curriculum, and cramming it all into a certain time period. Teachers and students have to worry about grade level assessments. Students have to worry about skipping grades, and if they are going to pass to the next grade at all. Students are forced to compare themselves to grade level standards and are looked down upon if they are not met. Parents, siblings and other relatives often stress over the same matters.



6. Graded schooling limits opportunities.


Adults who were not blessed with a formal education as children often struggle with the pursuit of one, often being unable to attend past a certain age, having to revert to online courses which miss the school social experience and do not properly meet many peoples academic needs. Gifted students who could have excelled, and been granted many great opportunities often miss out and have their talents go unrecognized. Slower students who could have just stayed behind in one area are forced to repeat an entire year or more often due to one weak subject, and are held back both socially or mentally.

Graded schooling has always been useless, unfair and detrimental. If students are to ever obtain success in their learning experience it will be when graded schooling is eliminated.