Should the grading and promotion of students be based strictly on merit?

Pro: Grades (e.g., A, B, C, D, F) and grade levels (e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) ought to reflect the possession of knowledge and skills rather than merely attendance at school. Assigning to a student a higher grade than deserved erodes the significance or dilutes the value of the grade.

Con: Especially in elementary school, individuals who are denied promotion are stigmatized and lose respect among peers and teachers. Students who fail to pass may be considered and may consider themselves as underachievers or losers. Often the result is a demoralization that lasts, if not for a lifetime, then for many years. Promoting students more on the basis of their age than on their performance in school allows them to develop without the stigma of academic failure.

Pro: Denying the undeserving students promotions to higher levels in grade school and high school gives them a valuable lesson at a time in their lives when there is little chance that they will suffer any long-term detrimental effects.

Pro: Promoting students on the basis of academic achievement rather than age helps students to prepare for the world that they will encounter outside the school—the world that rewards individuals for achievement, not for getting older.

Pro: The primary mission of educational institutions is the development of the intellectual capacities of the students who attend them; it is not solely the fostering of social or psychological adjustment in individuals. Promoting students on the basis of their age hampers the work of the schools and diminishes the quality of education for many students. Moving students who have failed to learn prerequisites for their courses to the next level in school, to join students who have kept pace with the expectations of the system, forces teachers to adapt their presentations to unprepared individuals. This would not be the case were students promoted strictly by academic achievement.

Con: Schools aim to broaden the horizons of their students in a number of ways: they aim not only to train minds but also to foster emotions and attitudes in students that lead them to success in their chosen fields. Schools play a role in the development of character and personality in students. And schools play a role in the training of athletes. Educators ought to take into account these various dimensions of human life when they grade students, and they ought to incorporate factors other than performance on objective tests in the decisions to pass or fail individuals.

Con: Promoting students on the basis of their age helps to retard the development of profound divisions in society.