Grading Scales

Roanoke County Public Schools

February 24, 2009

How will my child get into college?

Quick Answers

Grades GPA SAT or ACT Rigor of courses Special talents Activities How previous students from the high school

performed

Questions to answer

How do we compare to other states and divisions?

How many A’s and B’s do our students earn? How does weighting affect

GPA? When did we last change our grading scale? How do colleges deal with all

this information? Does our grading scale hurt

college acceptance? How do we decide? What is

fair?

How do we compare to other states? 1999 VEA-last comparison of 123 VA grading scales Virginia does not have a mandated grading scale. States which reportedly have mandated grading scales:

Georgia, Tennessee,

West Virginia, Florida,

Alabama Only Florida actually does

(a 10-point scale) Others mandate weighting,

or have gone back to local

option

Comparison in Virginia: It is not just about the grading scale

In a 1999 survey of divisions in Virginia, Roanoke Co was one of 59 out of 123 divisions with A=94-100.

4 had A=90-100, 1 had A91-100, 5 had A=92-100, 35 had A=93-100,19 had A=95-100

In a 2002 survey of 27 like divisions: 25 had A = 93 (or above) to 100

In 2009 survey of 6 divisions like ours (Albemarle, Botetourt, Chesterfield, Hanover, Stafford,Prince William) :

2 had A=94-100, 2 had A=93-100, 1 changed in 2007-08 to A=90-100, 1 is pending.

Recent grading scale changes seen in Fairfax, Stafford (pending), Loudon

Weighting practices varies from division to division.

Valedictorian status varies.

91-100

92-100

93-100

94-100

95-100

When did we last change our grading scale?

Grading scale prior to 1992-1993: A=95-100 B=88-94 C=81-87 D=75-80 F=74 and below Grading scale 1992-1993 and after: A=94-100 B=87-93 C=78-86 D=70-77 F=69 and below What happened to percentages of grades? In the

next six years, percentages of A’s stayed the same and B’s actually went down 3.2%. A restructuring of expectations?

Since 1998, percentages increased A’s 8%, B’s 3.2% (in comparison with 1993-1999).

How many A’s and B’s are there? Virginia schools are required to report their distribution of

grades, i.e., what percent of grades were A’s, B’s, etc. Examples: in two similar systems, A’s ranged from 20-25%

of all grades, B’s were 22-31% of all grades. In our high schools, A’s given ranged from 32-43% of all

grades, B’s were 28-32% of all grades. At Fairfax’s Thomas Jefferson School for Science and

Technology, on 16 out of 432 seniors in 2007 graduated with all A’s. TJ produced 158 semifinalists in National Merit, and had the highest SAT score in the country.

Grade inflation: debated since 1894 in a Harvard study. Princeton in 2004 adopted a grade deflation policy,

including quotas for A’s.

Grade Distibution Comparison

Roanoke County, Virginia

0

10

20

30

40

50

A B C D F

High

Low

Similar Divisions in Virginia

0

10

20

30

40

50

A B C D F

High

Low

How does weighting affect GPA?

The reason that GPA’s are so variable is the weighting. Virginia requires that schools weight Advanced Placement

and International Baccalaureate courses. Here again, Virginia does not mandate consistency.

We weight AP, dual and certain specialty school courses. That means that our highest GPA’s are in the 4.2-4.3 range,

with 4.0 being a perfect “A”. Systems that weight other course levels, like honors or

college-bound, might come up with a higher GPA. School profiles are sent with each transcript to explain our

method.

Does the grading scale hurt students in college acceptance/scholarships?

Divisions vary in grading scales, weighting. Around Richmond, 5.0+ not uncommon. In one school in New Jersey, 7.0+ are routinely seen. “Grades have long been contentious in education

because they are so subjective. Grading scales

vary widely among K-12 school systems -- and

often within schools -- making it increasingly

difficult to accurately compare grades.” Strauss,

Valerie. “So many grading scales”, Washington

Post Sept. 26, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.

com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR20

06092500999.html

College admissions offices are sophisticated enough to factor in the difference

Comparing to previous students

Local comparisons based on rank

Rigor of courses. Refiguring the GPA

How are students from different grading scales compared by colleges?

How would we decide? What is fair?

Do objective research. Determine the elements that are important: our reputation, our expectations, our current success, talk with college admissions directors. Get input from our students, parents, teachers, administrators Anticipate ramifications: student achievement, SOL performance, graduation rate.