Grading Scale: Case for Change

Today I am giving you not my words but those of a parent in favor of changing the LCPS grading scale. See yesterday's post for a little background. Below are excerpts, click here for the full analysis.

Summary:

• Our county’s 7 point scale diverges from the de facto national standard, which is the 10 point scale.

• This puts Loudoun students at a serious disadvantage when applying to college because their transcripts are arbitrarily less impressive and out of synch with their SAT scores.

• Harmonizing on the 10 point scale will ensure true comparisons with students from across the country and abroad.
  

• There are two ways to harmonize and credibly signal excellence: base letter grades on the 10 point scale and report numeric scores on transcripts, or just report numeric scores.
  

The question of which grading system to use is a standards problem. They raise the costs, in terms of effort and resources, of searching on the quality of their goods and services. Because these search costs can be substantial, businesses seek to lower them by adopting harmonized standards.

School districts across the US have come to the same conclusion: harmonization is the way to level the playing field and get rid of the technical barriers that divergent grading systems create. Indeed, college admissions committees have no incentive to incur the search costs involved in trying to figure out the quality of students who are graded on a 7 point scale, assuming they even realize that the student has been graded on a 7 point scale in the first place.

Divergent grading scales are lost on [admissions committees] making the decisions. While parents hope that universities know about the quality of their school system, committees can’t possibly be aware of, or have the resources to adjust for, differences in grading scales across the country.

It is important, in this regard, to recognize that harmonizing on the 10 point scale will help all of our students, not just those applying to elite colleges. To be sure, Loudoun students on the cusp of gaining admission to larger public schools with Bs and Cs will benefit as much, if not more.

Seen for what it is—a standards problem—there really isn’t much of a debate to be had about moving to a 10 point grading scale. The sooner we recognize this, the faster we can ensure that all of our children fully capitalize on the quality education they receive in Loudoun.

Tomorrow I will present the case made by a parent in favor of keeping the current scale.