If a North Carolina high school student scores a 92, it's a high B. In some other states it would be a low A.
Leaders of some of the state's largest districts, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Wake, are urging the state to allow districts to adopt a 10-point scale that they say would help N.C. students compete for spots in good colleges.
"We met with the state superintendent in January and have continued to advocate for this change," CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison says. "It is consistent with most school districts and states across the nation. The current grade scale puts our NC students at a competitive disadvantage with their peers in other states."
The Wake school board's policy committee recently discussed the 10-point scale, Keung Hui of the News & Observer reports. The current seven-point scale, in which 93 to 100 is an A, 85 to 92 is a B and so on, was locked in to get transcript consistency across the state, he reports.
Under a 10-point scale, 90 to 100 would be an A, 80 to 89 a B, etc. (I'm not sure if the failing point is universal, but under this scale recently approved by Henrico County (Va.) schools, a D is 65 to 69 and anything below 65 is failing.)
"Supporters give reasons such as how a 10-point scale might cause more students to get As and Bs and could result in an increase in student self-esteem and confidence," Hui writes. "Critics say a 10-point scale might diminish student motivation to achieve higher standards."
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18 comments:
These "grades" mean nothing.
There are no national norms for grades and there never will be.
Everyone knows that.
This is exactly why we have all those much hated "high pressure" standardized tests.
It all began back around WWI when no one could tell whether someone knew anything based on their school records.
So they invented the Army Alpha exam on which the SAT was based.
And nearly 100 years later...
You STILL CANNOT trust the schools to be honest and fair about student "achievement" by looking at their grades.
And how they're talking about goosing the scores to increase "self-esteem".
Maybe they should try "social promotion", too.
I hear that works wonders.
You can't make this stuff up.
So they get a 50 for just putting their name on a sheet of paper and now they're proposing passing at 60?
...and is so they "might feel better about themselves"?
68-75 = D
76-83 = C
84-92 = B
93-100 = A
That's the scale I grew up on.
Why should we care what other states are doing?
You would think a college would see a student with high grades on our current scale as having more value than on a dumbed down scale.
How about a push to change NC public high school start times? It is not "smart" to have high schools start at 7:15am. Why are the people in charge making such bad decisions for our students?
Grades mean NOTHING as long as Principals keep getting the "graduation bonus" like most are getting. I see all the hocus pocus at my school and I hear about other HOROR stories from my peers at other schools.
Great job CMS administrators, great job. Enjoy driving around in your NEW LEXUS.
Voice your opinion on high school start times to CMS administration at www.cms.k12.nc.us. Go to the spotlight section and click on the Parent School Time Survey. There are several questions that allow you to write in a response about school schedules. Survey closes April 18.
How about get rid of the letter grade and just use % number.
National common core standards, then national adopted grading system. Yes, grades are subjective but then again so is the evaluation tool that is being proposed by NC to pay the teachers. Test scores and grades are not be all end all. Teachers and students are more than a number. So much more is involved. There is no fair way to evaluate my teaching or my students. So at least give the kids a better shot at acceptance into college due to better grade point averages.
National common core standards, then national adopted grading system. Yes, grades are subjective but then again so is the evaluation tool that is being proposed by NC to pay the teachers. Test scores and grades are not be all end all. Teachers and students are more than a number. So much more is involved. There is no fair way to evaluate my teaching or my students. So at least give the kids a better shot at acceptance into college due to better grade point averages.
Yeah, sure, why not just let everyone in college and not even bother with the standardized tests or grades.
Because no one really knows how to "really" evaluate anyone anymore.
Dumb down all the schools, so no one will notice that they aren't really in "college", except for the fact that they pay tuition for each class.
Then everyone can have college degrees and think they are special.
But they'll still be working for minimum wage.
Or maybe they'll just hire foreigners if they want someone who really knows what they're doing instead of someone who just got the easy "American" diploma and "degree".
My district posts the "number grade" on transcripts, but obviously follows the State grading-scale. I believe it is beneficial and more of a true indicator to use numbers as "official" final grades, but it could put students at a disadvantage when competing for scholarships and acceptance into colleges when their peers (from other LEA's) use letters.
Pretend we're finalists for a scholarship: I have a "93" for AP Calculus and you have an "A" for the same course in your transcript. You're grade could have ranged from 92.5 - 100%, but there's no way for the viewer to know. Who's at the advantage/disadvantage?
As far as changing the grading scale: The primary concern should not be the values; The focus needs to be on the rigor of the class and the quality of instruction taking place. These are much more important to the success of our students to be globally competitive.
CS
Did you grow up with the Core Cirriculum? If most states using this Cirriculum use a 10 point scale then show should NC. The 7 point scale puts our kids at a disadvantage! Times change!
The NC grading scale puts our kids at a huge disadvantage. If the goal is to prepare a student for a higher educational collegiate system, why not use the same grading scale that has been standardized at that level? I haven't seen one argument which can substantiate any value for our current system whatsoever. It appears that we wish to conserve the current system because it's always been that way.
Standards exist to level the playing field so that broad and general interpretations are equitable. A NC student who earns a 91 in Calculus receives a B whereas a student in NY who earns a 90 in Calculus will receive an A. It is not fair that the NY student will have a 4.0 factored into the grading equation whereas the NC student who earned a HIGHER numerical score will receive a 3.00 which is a whole point lower. At some point, common sense needs to prevail here.
I just moved to NC from MD. My 9th grade daughter received an 82% in math and that was a "C". She just received her final grade today and she can't stop crying. She doesn't understand how an 82% is a "C". In Maryland, that would have been a "B" and 3 points instead of 2. Some of her friends received 69% in math and have to go to summer school. This grading scale makes absolutely no sense and needs to be changed. I read an earlier post where someone said the higher grades will help the students self-esteem. Well my daughters self-esteem is shot right now. I am thinking about moving back to Maryland. I believe this school system and their grading scale will ruin my child if she stays here!
^same thing with me but with spanish and an 84. REALLY REALLY MAD. It's the second time this has happenend in high school and my GPA has suffered because of this.
If the state wants children to succeed, then they will change otherwise; other children will suffer like me.
Though I am byist, this NEEDS to change.
The students are at a significant disadvantage here in NC. Your GPA is skewed and can be substantially lower than peers from other neighboring states. This is actually having an effect on my daughter and is impacting her school career.
Thw grading schedule needs to be aligned with other states. Thus rigor stuff districts shovel is negatively effecting our students.
Um what do you think that the people looking at a students transcript don't know that a student is either at a 7 point scale or a 10 point scale colleges see that too so that disadvantage your talking about doesn't realm exist its just a stupid theory
Do you think colleges don't see if a student is on a 7 point grading scale or a 10 point grading scale OF COURSE THEY DO. so that "disadvantage you're talking about is such a stupid theory
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