High schools to be on uniform grading scale next fall

The new scale, based on a maximum 4.0 grade point average, sets a score of 93 to 100 as an A, 85 to 92 as a B, 75 to 84 as a C and 70 to 74 as a D. Scores below 70 will be considered failing.

The board considered arguments from a parent, a lawmaker and some local school officials to adopt an alternative plan that set an A as a score of 90 and above before voting on the measure.

“Looking for lottery scholarship purposes, we were looking at leveling the playing field for students,” said Gary Nixon executive director of the board.

The General Assembly directed the Board of Education last year to establish a task force of superintendents, principals, teachers and others to study and develop a uniform system pending the board’s approval.

High school grades partly determine if lottery scholarships are awarded to students. Seniors who have a B average and a minimum score on one of two standardized college entrance exams can get a scholarship worth up to $4,000 at a Tennessee institution.

State Sen. Jim Bryson, R-Franklin, spoke to the board Friday morning, voicing concerns that the grading scale picked by the board would put Tennessee students at a disadvantage for nationally competitive scholarships and college programs.

“I can understand the need for a uniform system — it’s an apples-to-apples comparison,” he said. “But if the schools are already going to be changing to a 93 (for an A), why not change it to a 90?

The Williamson County Schools system, which falls in Bryson’s district, did a national survey in 1994 to determine what the most common high school grading scale was. The survey showed that a majority of schools considered a grade of 90 to 100 as an A, which led Williamson County schools to adopt that scale.

The number of Williamson County students receiving college scholarships quadrupled after that, Bryson said.

The new system still will allow individual school systems to decide if they will determine class rankings with the uniform scale or with a weighted scale.

“Hopefully that addresses some of the concern about the grading scale,” Nixon said. “That leaves the option of using a weighted scale to determine class rank to the school systems.”

A survey by the board found that the most common grading system in the state awarded an A for 94 or above, which influenced board members to adopt a similar policy, he said.

The new grading scale won’t change much for Roane County Schools, so Joe Parker, director of special projects for the schools, thinks the move will be good for students. The system uses a 94 to 100 scale for an A.

“If you’ve got all the students vying for the same scholarship, they should be on a level playing field,” Parker said. “That way they’re all working from the same place.”