How grades can't actually represent the students academic potential

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52679/why-its-crucial-and-really-hard-to-talk-about-more-equitable-grading

There is a difference between a students academic potential and the grade they receive; Why It's Crucial -- And Really Hard -- To Talk About More Equitable Grading" by "Joe Feldman" highlights just that . THis article is an in depth examination of the everyday classroom from the mind of Mallory, a principal at Centennial College Prep Middle School. The article highlights many issues in today's classrooms all surrounding the central question of, how is it possible that two students with the same academic achievements can receive different grades? Mallory saw there were discrepancies in the data coming from standardized testing and the classroom, where students in one class were more likely to fail, where students in some classes were more likely to get a bad grade in one class because of the teacher and more. When she discussed with the teachers some teachers who had a higher "failure rate" (or had the most kids with Ds and Fs) they said that they held their students to higher standards, or "they were the real teachers", and were preparing the kids for the real world. These teachers, common in most schools, make harder tests, or take points off for things that are seen as unnecessary in the students eye. There were the other teachers with a low failure rate that said they were tailoring the grading to best help the student. "There is nothing wrong with giving a student a second chance or a retake." With comparing the grading types of these two teachers Mallory called it "Inconsistent grading", and as the article progressed she began to think about the solutions to inconsistent grading and wondered if inconsistent is just an unavoidable occurrence in schools. The closing question, "And did principals’ avoidance of addressing the variance and inconsistency of grading represent support of their teachers, a détente between teachers and administrators, or an unspoken compromise that ignored the damaging impact on children, particularly those who are most vulnerable?" really brings home the centralized idea of the article.

This brings me into the argument that grades don't represent you as a student. Take the situation in Mallory's school; there are kids who can perform outstanding on the standardized tests, but are subject to the grading system set up by the teachers, and the teachers hard curriculum which makes their classroom achievements seem less than extraordinary. Grades in the classroom are what our school system is centralized around, not only does it determine your placement in classes in your own middle school or high school, it determines your future, colleges which can affect jobs and more. This is an immense amount of pressure on a student for something they don't necessarily control.