Are Grades Necessary for Learning?

I personally don't think grades are necessary for learning. I think that grades is just another way for students to compare themselves to others. How well are they doing in the class, how much do they know at the end of a unit?

For most students, they don't do homework nor do they do the classwork, but on tests, it shows that they can do the material and understand it. I think that grades is a good tool to use to assess how students are doing, but it shouldn't be the main way.

I have come to realize that the students who don't do the homework, do really well on the tests and that's what helping them pass the classes. Students do know their stuff but they are just lazy and grades aren't motivating them.

If we took grades out of the picture, I think that students would maybe work harder and actually try to understand the material, instead of just memorizing it. Now, in schools today, students are doing work because they want to get the good grade and memorizing it. I wonder how much of the information students are actually learning and understanding rather than just memorizing it. They only do it because there is some reward to it. If grades weren't in the picture, I think that students would try and understand the material because they WANT to know how to do it and understand it.