Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (1)
Grading-scale change debated
Loudoun County's grading scale was up for debate Nov. 12 with representatives from Fairgrade, Loudoun County Public Schools and the college admissions community.
The Fairgrade group, which was launched in Fairfax County in January 2008, advocates adapting a 10-point grading scale and other changes members say will benefit college-bound students.
"Students are applying to colleges nationwide and being compared to a national applicant pool,” Megan McLaughlin, president and co-founder of Fairgrade, told the audience of about 50 at the Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents meeting.
"It's about admission to colleges, honors and scholarship programs, scholarship money and even car insurance premium deductions," she said.
McLaughlin said Loudoun's seven-point grading scale puts students at a disadvantage.
In the current system in Loudoun, a score of 93 to 100 is an A, while in nearby districts such as Arlington, and Montgomery County, Md. -- which operate on a 10-point scale – a score of 90 to 100 is an A. In all the districts, an A is worth 4 points in determining the student's grade-point average.
Barmak Nassirian, spokesman for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, told the audience at the LEAP meeting that when it comes to being accepted into college, one grading scale is not superior to any other.
"I think there is a little bit of fallacy here about evening the playing field," he said. "My strong suspicion is that Loudoun County could change the grading scale and the outcome would remain very much the same because teachers know what they're doing."
He said that when colleges are looking through applications, they take the time to understand each student's grading scale and make the necessary adjustments.
"We know lots of high schools where lots of students graduate with 4.0s, and they aren't very good," he said.
Anne Lewis, director of student services for Loudoun County Public Schools, said there is little evidence that changing to a 10-point scale would benefit the students.
"Our transcript includes the grading scale, GPA and the student's class rank," she said. "A lot of colleges do know Loudoun County Public Schools."
Edgar Hatrick, superintendent of schools, said the issue is being considered by schools' staff and at some point next year, a recommendation will be made to the school board on how to proceed.
The school board will hear public comments on the grading scale and will ultimately make a decision, he said.
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
I am an engineer. I deal with data. You build your model based on the data. I believe FairGradeLoudoun.org has done just that; brought data to the table. LCPS hasn't done so. They brought in a SPOKESMAN for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers whose data was his "suspicion." He's not the one sitting at a desk with a stack of applications to go through.
Anne Lewis, director of student services for Loudoun County Public Schools, said "there is little evidence that changing to a 10-point scale would benefit the students." But the fact is there is a little evidence that it does benefit our students. Even if you throw out the college application issue, the fact some colleges stated it could put LCPS students at a disadvantage in receiving scholarships is reason enough in my book to switch.
If the "suspicion" is that "Loudoun County could change the grading scale and the outcome would remain very much the same because teachers know what they're doing," then there isn't a negative correlation to changing it. It can only benefit our students.
You can't judge apples to apples if you create a different scale for one group of apples. Yeah, this apple isn't as red, but we had a really tough grading policy for it. At the meeting Mr. Nassirian said "his organization has been attempting to standardize high school transcript standards since 1910 without much luck. Without the same academic rigor and curriculum in high schools nationwide, he said the 10-point grading scale doesn't represent a level playing field."
Well here we are trying to help level that playing field. He should be ecstatic. You don't create academic rigor with a grading scale and you sure can't level a playing field using an uneven grading system.
The bottom line is, which system has the most benefit for our students? If you can show me the current system has MORE benefit to our students than a 10 point system, I'll happily sign uo to it. But if you can't, if you use supposition and suspicion to reinforce your argument, you not only hurt your credibility, but you hurt our students. If changing to a grading system that is by far THE MOST predominate systems throughout the country helps our students in even one college or scholarship application, then to me it's a necessary change.
Posted by NavyWings
Report Offensive Content
You must be logged in to post a comment.