Stories of High School 2019 - 2023

Argumentative debate

Introduction: [Argument]
Lead/AGD: Do you like when your parents get up on you because you don't have the best grades? Do you like when you don't have to try as hard in school? Well, the pass/fail option is for you!
Explanation of problem: The pass/fail option is better mentally and is just a better option because then students don't have to be stressed because as long as you have a D- or higher you will have a 4.000 GPA. The school system is rigged and dosen't prove anything with grades. The pass/fail option is a better option determining what you know.
Thesis: Although the ABCDF scale is decent for students there is always a better option and thats the pass/fail option. The pass/fail option provides less stress for students, helps reduce the chances of cheating because school is no longer a race to get the best grades. It also provides learning as the reward!
Preview of all arguments
In Support Statement 1: The pass/fail option reduces stress among students
In Support Statement 2: The pass/fail option reduces the chances of cheating
In Support Statement 3: Learning then becomes the reward instead of competition
Body of Speech
In Support Statement 1: The pass/fail option reduces stress among students.
In 2000 the government did a study and found that kids in 1980 had stress levels higher than patients in a mental assylum and found that those levels were only going to get higher along with depression.
Learning becomes the reward. The student won't have to worry about getting the "A" because they will almost always be passing unless they do ot try.
This supports my idea because students shouldnt worry about dumb thing such as school. The school system is messed up and student don't learn a thing in school. Students are stressed 24/7 because teachers hand out work like it's candy.
In Support Statement 2: The pass/fail option helps reduce cheating
First piece of evidence: American University says that the pass/fail option reduces stress and anxiety towards students. Students will be working to understand their state curriculum instead of worrying if their grades are high enough and if their parents will be upset because of their grades.
Second piece of evidence: University of Illinois says "students in a pass/fail group perceived less stress in their first two years of school compared to students who had received traditional grading."
In Support Statement 3: Learning becomes the reward!!
First piece of evidence: American University says "A pass/fail approach shifts the focus away from grades and eliminates using grades as rewards; instead, learning is the reward."
Second piece of evidence: Students are willing to take more academic risks. Connect US says "When students tackle a new subject in the classroom, then they typically avoid anything that would be challenging because of the risk that it would cause in relation to their GPA."
Rebuttal
Concession: The other side has some good to it obviously. It has different qualities that the other side doesn't.
This side of the argument increases competition while the pass/fail option minimizes the competition, With the ABCDF scale it makes you work harder to get the grade you want instead of trying to pass the class with minimum effort
If you fail a class in the pass/fail option it will drop your GPA instead of slowly lowering it. In the ABCDF scale it still drops it a ton even if you go from a A- to a B+ but it drops it even more if you are on the pass/fail option.
Refutation: The ABCDF scale is decent and it increases competition which is what we want to see and it also dosen't lower your GPA as fast. However... The pass/fail option reduces stress and anxiety on students because this generation is stressed 24/7 and our stress levels are higher than a psychotic patient in a mental assylum. The pass/fail option also helps reduce the chances of cheating. You won't have to worry about getting that "A" so you can relax and minamize competition. Learning becomes the reward instead of worrying about getting the "A".
Strong Concluding Warrant: [Restate your main ideas and connect them back to your thesis]
So what? This matters because students shouldnt worry about dubm things and they shouldnt have to come to school every day and worry about their grades and learning should be the goal instead of not learning and cheating to get a 4.000 GPA.

Works Cited:

"6 Alternative Grading Systems That Foster Student Development"
    https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/alternative-grading-systems, Accessed 24 May 2022

Walden, Patrick R. (2022) "Student Motivation, Anxiety and Pass/Fail Grading: A SoTL Project," Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30707/TLCSD6.1.1649037808.651639 Available at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/tlcsd/vol6/iss1/13 Accessed 24 May 2022

"19 Principal Pros And Cons of the Pass Fail Grading System"
https://connectusfund.org/8-principal-pros-and-cons-of-the-pass-fail-grading-system Accessed 24 May 2022