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Home > Blogs > Lakota Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > June > 04 > Entry
More on Lakota’s grade scale debate
I have been compiling comments from parents as well as letters they are sending to the board of education. Some parents are threatening that if the board doesn’t change Lakota’s grade scale from the 93-100 A format, they won’t support the next levy.
I would love your thoughts on this issue. Check out my story at http://www.pulsejournal.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/06/04/pjw060508gradescale.html
Also, the parents want to point out their new Web site to comment on the issue. It doesn’t look like it is up yet, but it will eventually be at lakotagradingscale.org.
Jump here to read one parent’s letter.
7081 Larkspur Lane Liberty Township, OH 45044 May 27, 2008
Mr. Mike Taylor Mr. Ron Spurlock Members of Student Success Committee Lakota Central Office 5572 Princeton Road Liberty Township, OH 45011
Dear Mr. Taylor, Mr. Spurlock and Committee Members,
I am the parent of four children, two of whom are students in the Lakota School District (my older two are in college and graduate school). We have lived in two states as well as two foreign countries so I am familiar with a broad range of school settings, curriculums and standards. During our time in Lakota, my children have been privileged to work with some wonderful teachers, and they have been challenged in a variety of ways. I appreciate all the time and effort you expend on behalf of our students and their success. However, there are a few items of concern that I would like to share with you.
This past year Lakota’s grading scale underwent review once again. I remember when my oldest son was in high school, the grading scale was an item of concern to many parents at that time as well. It will, I suspect, continue to be an issue that will resurface again and again because it poses significant disadvantages to our students. Simply put, our grading scale puts Lakota students at a disadvantage in the arena of college admissions and scholarships as they compete against their peers from other districts in the Cincinnati area which all have 10 point grading scales (90-100 is an A, 80-90 a B, etc…) such as Mason City Schools, Kings Local School District, Sycamore Community Schools, Wyoming Schools, Walnut Hills High School, and Indian Hill Village Exempted Schools. All these school districts have been ranked excellent by the state of Ohio, and the latter three high schools have been named by U.S. News and World Report as being in the top 100 high schools in the United States with Indian Hill High School ranking in the top 50.
First, let’s examine those students at the top end of the scale. Those students who score in the 90-92 range in Lakota are awarded a B+ (a B for the 90), while their peers in other districts are awarded an A. For these Lakota students, this can make a significant impact if they choose to apply to selective schools which place a premium on a transcript full of A’s in rigorous courses. It can, quite literally, mean the difference between getting into their first choice schools or not. I realize there are many other factors considered, of course, but as Elizabeth Wissner-Gross, an educational consultant who assists students applying to top schools, explains: “Contrary to what many people like to believe, the secret is that high school grades starting with freshman year play a very powerful role in helping to determine you child’s future…in today’s society, no matter what your philosophy on grading, testing, and learning, grades play a powerful role in the number of opportunities that become available to your child—not just which college your kid gets into. All of the most prestigious summer internships, jobs, academic programs, science-research opportunities, national competitions, and awards require that the student submit a high school transcript.”
In other words, take that Lakota student and pit him against a Sycamore student, with all other credentials being equal (such as extracurricular activities, leadership roles, SAT/ACT scores, terrific college essay, etc…), and that Sycamore student has a greater chance of getting into the school of his dreams.
Furthermore, the scale for determining what constitutes an A should not be designed to narrowly limit the number of top performing students; this is the reverse of grade inflation, rather it becomes grade discrimination. This is not about competing for the coveted spot of valedictorian or salutatorian or protecting a select group of students; it is about leveling the playing field so our students can fairly compete in the academic marketplace. I graduated in the top 6 of my high school (I was on track to be valedictorian at my high school until my family moved to another district my senior year), and at the top of my nursing class at Duke University, and it would have never occurred to me to worry about how many students in my class should be allowed to earn A’s by narrowly defining the grading scale. The same could be said of my daughter who was at the top of her high school class as well. Admissions officers find the variety of grading scales perplexing as well; an admissions officer at Vanderbilt University observed to me that it was puzzling to her that high schools felt the need to come up with various grading scales as all colleges and universities used a 10 point grading scale so that all students can compete fairly for postgraduate opportunities.
There also seems to be the conception that if we change the grading scale we are lowering our expectations, and the community at large will view this negatively. I would venture to say that the people who reside in Sycamore Township, Wyoming, and Indian Hills do not view their schools as having low standards, and neither do their students or parents. Apparently, US News and World Report does not think so either! The reputation of a school is not built on its grading scale, but rather on the quality of its curriculum, its teachers and its administrators.
Now let’s consider the impact of the grading scale on the students whose grades fall between 70 and 89. For those Lakota students whose grades fall into the 80-84 range, they are awarded a C, whereas their peers in other school districts are awarded a B. Those who score in the 70-76 range are awarded a D, whereas their peers are awarded a C. This puts these students at a significant disadvantage in the competitive arena of college admissions as well. It also impacts their opportunities for athletic scholarships. For students competing for NCAA eligibility and for admission to Division I schools, this is a major disadvantage as one of the criteria is a C average in order to play.
In closing, I would like to say that I was disappointed to learn the Grading Scale Committee’s recommendation (that was based on several months of research and discussion) to change the grading scale was disregarded by the Student Success Committee. As I have outlined above, our grading scale adversely affects the success of Lakota students in a myriad of ways. I hope you all will thoughtfully reconsider this issue, and its far reaching consequences for our students.
Respectfully,
Donna West
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By DiamondDave
June 4, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this
I went through the same thing between my junior and senior years in high school back in 1983. I was always an A/B student, but at midterms, my parents couldn’t understand why my grades had slipped in every subject. I explained the new grade scale, and they weren’t buying it. This is the underlying problem, that employers/colleges don’t look at the grade scale YOU were under at YOUR school, they look at what the MAJORITY does. Your GPA says 0.0-4.0, not 0-100%, so these students will be harshly and unfairly judged when matched against the GPA’s of 90-100 A schools. Getting back to my school, we went back to the 90-100 A grade scale at the end of October. Seems as that higher grade scale knocked too many of our football players to the academically ineligible list for us to field an 11-man team…which cancelled our season…the week before Homecoming.
By td
November 16, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this
Lindsey, You are 100% on the mark. I made similar comments on another blog. Your comments are GREAT. Well stated. We need to get this fixed not on a local or state level, but national level. Our students are competing for spots with students across the nation and globe.
By Anomynous
December 1, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this
my kid goes to loveland school disctrict and we have the same problem so thank you.
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December 27, 2008 10:31 PM | Link to this
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By Melissa Barone
January 19, 2009 12:21 PM | Link to this
I am currently doing a study for the same reason on the Madeira City Schools (they use the 7 point scale). Any research you have would be helpful…
By Matt Tomaszewski
January 20, 2009 12:24 PM | Link to this
It is very frustrating that there appears to be so much fear to acknowledge that the current 7 point scale is not appropriate and should be replaced by the 10 point scale. I hope our school boards could do what we “teach” our children, if you make a mistake, work to correct it, not try to rationalize or justify why you were not really wrong.
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