When a failing grade can cut it

Every failing high-school student's dream will come true next fall: Simply hand in a blank piece of paper (or no paper at all) for any assignment, and automatically get 50 percent credit. While it may seem appealing, this guideline of the new grading policy contradicts everything MCPS is trying to achieve: It will discourage student effort, inflate grades and allow false promotion from one grade level to the next.

MCPS Director of Curriculum and Instruction Karen Harvey says the policy ensures that all grades have the same weight so it will no longer be impossible to recover from a bad grade. An A and an E should theoretically average to a C, she says, but currently, if a student receives a zero on one test and then a 100 on the next, his or her average would be 50 percent, which is still a failing grade. A zero through 59 percent will merit the same E. To fix this inconsistency, the new policy asks teachers to record letter grades as opposed to percentages, as averaging letters obtains the "right" results, while averaging percentages do not.

Such reasoning is problematic because simplifying a percentage to a letter grade doesn't take into account the numeric range that an E encompasses. If a student receives a 50 percent on one test and a 100 on another, that student would have the C average Harvey stresses. But this should only occur when a student actually masters half of the material. Instead, MCPS says all Es are equal and assumes that every failing grade is a 50 percent, a significant exaggeration. This system simply gives everyone the highest score possible without surpassing an E. The current grading system of using percentages yields more accurate grades, as it incorporates the different levels of mastery within a failing grade. Someone who receives no points on a test shows that they understand nothing, while a student with 50 percent understands half. If these two students are graded equally, as the new policy suggests, there is no longer an incentive for the student who tried (but failed) to ever try again.

The bottom line is that grades should be representative of knowledge mastered. If students fail one test and ace the other, they still only know half of the total material covered, and thus a 50 percent would be representative of mastery. Why is that too much to expect?

A more viable solution to help students improve their grades is to give more assignments and thus progressively decrease the effect one bad test day can have on a quarter grade. This solution (which is also suggested in the new grading policy), combined with the use of percentages, accurately reflects mastery and gives students more opportunities to fix their own grades.

The letter-grade aspect of the new policy is inflating the grades of students who might have failed otherwise. This becomes dangerous when students are unrightfully promoted to the next grade—probably for the second, third or fourth time—because their skewed grades indicate they mastered material that they may have never even glanced at. Too bad for the teacher who has to help that struggling student next year.

In addition, the class of 2009 now must pass the High School Assessments to graduate. Unfortunately, those who fly through school with no value placed on their grades (as long as they're passing) are the ones who will fail their standardized tests simply because no one declared that they weren‘t ready. Nobody wants to tell a student they cannot graduate because they only have a ninth-grade understanding of math or English. And nobody wants to explain to that student's parents where the system went wrong.

If the County wants grades to be accurate, they should use a number system instead of the traditional letter system. No longer would an 89.5 merit an A while an 89.4 earns a B. A number system wouldn't equate both a 69.5 and a 79.4 as Cs, as the traditional system does. In addition, instead of students deciding how little work they have to do to get an A, they will work harder knowing that colleges or employers will see how high their A was.

MCPS has mandated most of the guidelines to be implemented in secondary schools starting this year but has allowed high school leadership teams to decide which portions of the new system will be required in high school. Thankfully, there is time to voice your complaints about this confusing and counterproductive policy.

To voice your opinion, email MCPS Director of Curriculum and Instructional Programs
Betsy Brown at Betsy_Brown@mcpsmd.org