State school board sets uniform grading scale for high schools
NASHVILLE (AP) — Many high school administrators, teachers and students said they are torn about the State Board of Education’s approval Friday of a statewide uniform grading scale.
Some contend the change will cause a major shift for public high schools and put several students at a disadvantage. Others argue the state is lowering its standards.
“I support a uniform grade system change, but the one I would support is the one we use,” said Dianne Homra, a counselor at Lake County High School. Students there have been graded on a scale that awards an A to a score of 95 or better.
“I think an A should be better guarded by keeping it at a higher numerical,” she said
The state board unanimously approved without discussion requiring high schools to adopt a grading scale based on a maximum 4.0 grade point average. Under the new scale a score of 100 to 93 is an A, 92 to 85 is a B, 84 to 75 is a C, 74 to 70 is a D. Scores below 70 will be considered failing.
The matter was up for first reading Friday and must be voted on at subsequent board meetings. But the unanimous voted indicated approval is likely and the changes will take effect next fall.
Most schools will have to change their policies, said Dr. Gary Nixon, executive director of the board. Those that have been awarding A’s for scores of 90 and must toughen their standards. But 68 percent of the school systems will have to lower their standards under the proposal.
A survey by the board found that the most common grading system awarded an A for 94 or above.
Nixon said he had received some calls from school systems supporting a scale of 90-100 for an A, but most systems seemed opposed.
“It was a difficult decision but the task force decided to go with the majority of schools systems,” Nixon said.
The change was required by the Legislature because lawmakers wanted uniform standards for deciding which students qualify for lottery-funded college scholarships.
High school grades partly determine what scholarships are awarded to students. Those who have a 3.0 GPA 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.
“It’s going to have negligible impact on the number of students qualifying for the scholarships,” said Brian Noland, associate executive director for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. “It just opens the door for legislation to make future changes to eligibility.”
Principal Frank Cardwell at Beech High School in Sumner County said he believes that proposing a statewide grade scale change isn’t a good way to achieve fairness for students.
“If you want to put kids on a leveled playing field, give them a standardized test like the ACT,” he said. “Grading is not a perfect science, you still can manipulate grades if you want to.”
Principal Toby Woodmore of Trousdale County High School doesn’t oppose the new scale, although his school uses the 10-point system that award A’s to grades 90 and above. He said people must realize there isn’t a perfect system.
“If we think (a student) is A material they’ll get an A, it we think they’re B material they’ll get a B,” he said. “The students will dislike (the new scale). Kids are like adults, they don’t like change but they’ll get use to it.”
One of Woodmore’s 11th graders, Stephenie Butcher, is against the new scale.
“I personally don’t like it one bit because we will have to work harder than anyone else,” she said. “Our school is just as hard as everyone else’s and they could have changed their system to ours instead of moving the scale.”
John Lemonds, a junior football player at Lake County, a rural West Tennessee high school, said the change will be a major help for him and a few of his teammates. Lemonds has maintained a 3.0 GPA, but it has been difficult for him to manage schoolwork with the demands of football practice and working on his family’s farm.
“I thinks it’s wrong for others to be on a lower grade system,” he said. “It’s a lot competition and it’s really hard. I thinks (scales) should be all round the same, we’re all trying to go to college.”