EDHS Contemporary World Affairs

Sandy · Senior Member

Virginia Parents Fight for easier Grading Standards

lookitspeter · Senior Member

It's hard to say because by raising the standard the Virginia's Fairfax County they raise their reputation giving students a slight edge (when they apply to colleges) over students with the same grades from other areas. But then again, by raising the passing rate from 60% to 64% the number of students passing classes will decrease. And although the findings by Fairgrade showed that changing the scale would boost GPA's it did not reveal whether it would help students get into better colleges. Still some argue against dropping the standards simply to allow failing students to pass. Admittingly there are perceivable benefits in raising the grading standard but as a student I would prefer a 90% to be an "A" not 94%.

coramarie:p · Veteran Member

I agree that Virginia students by having different grading scales would make success in school more dominant. Getting the grades would be difficult but it would pay off in the long run because you would be above the average student in other schools.

Bonemail-(Christophe K) · Senior Member

Instill a better work ethic in your kids and use it to your advantage. If they keep good tabs on their kids and set realistic goals for them they will not have a problem. If anything this country needs a harder learning curve. If you only know 60% of your job responsibilities or only know how to do 60% of it your getting fired real fast.

ghan28 · Veteran Member

Instead of letting this different grading scale take affect in a negative way, they should learn to use it to their advantage as a way of exceeding beyond expecations and leaning towards a brighter & more successful future.

KW00D · Senior Member

I think that by making the grading scale more strict, it should empower students to work harder. I don't think it's fair for other districts to relax grading scales, because that's just promoting laziness. In my opinion, I think it's a tremendous advantage.

Date: Jan 30, 2009

I think that it will be alot harder for the students to get into universities especially with the grading system. I think thay the school district should have the same grading scale as the rest of the United States. Especially hard for the students to get ok grades on their transcripts. I think that colleges really look at grades so this is a big thing for them to get into a universtity.

Date: Jan 30, 2009

i think it's a hard situation because one point is that it should and could motivate the children to do better, but there is the other side that when they go to apply for colleges their grades will show up as B's instead of A's like the rest of the United States. This could hinder their acceptance and in a way even harm them instead of helping them. Also if you think about the kids who have a harder time learning then they could feel even more discouraged by their lower grades. For those who want to strive to do better, they still can with the normal grading school, and for those who have an easier time understanding the lessons there are higher levels of classes they can take. Personally, i think the grading scale should be in sync with the rest of the United States.

Snackycakes · Senior Member

I think it is an advantage because the student is going to be more motivated to work for a better grade. If the student is trying to get into college, and they are truly concerned with their GPA they will have to study harder to get acceptable grades. This could give them an edge over students that did not have to put out as much effort because they really need to be sharp on what they are studying in their classes to get a good grade.

B_Marshburn · Senior Member

I think I agree with the parents, a 94% should not be counted as a B-. I don't understand how that would be able to work I think that Virginia should go for the same grading standards as all of the other states in America. This will make it very hard for students who are B students to get into colleges, won't it cause thier grades to go from a B to a C or even a D?

coco captian bpurn · Veteran Member

i dont think that the grading scale should higher... 94 for a B? that seems too hard. yes it would motivate students to work a little harder, but at the same time, some students just arent capable of that. to some students, an A may come easy... yes they probably work hard for it, but some people have disabilities or problems focusing, and for those students it would suck. i think they should keep the grading scale as it is.

Ayesha · Veteran Member

I think the grading scale they have can both help them and hurt them. If they get a good grade, it would help because colleges would see that that kid's high school had this grading scale, and they'd give them that advantage and know that they are intelligent. On the other hand, if a kid gets a bad grade BECAUSE of this grading scale, that would hurt them because colleges would just see the bad grade and not look further into it to see that they had a different grading scale.

moniCA92870 · Senior Member

There good and bad parts to these standards. It is good to have high standards because then, students will work harder at school more often. It might make students strive more to get an A and appreiciate it more. Sure, they might have a disadvantage when it comes to apply for colleges when instead of having an A- they have a B+, but if colleges and universities know that the standards in that area are higher, I think they'll be able to understand. The only bad part I can see about these standards are that when report cards come, it would be less satisfactory seeing a row of B's than A's.

saraheckberg · Veteran Member

I think having higher standards for students is motivation to work harder. It becomes a problem though when the standards become too high and become unreasonable. In this case, I do not think the standards are unreasonable or unfair.

EDHS Contemporary World Affairs

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