Dear Extra Credit:
This is in regard to recent columns on the Fairfax County gradingsystem, including a letter by Marcy Newberger of McLean [ExtraCredit, Fairfax Extra, Oct. 26]. You are absolutely correct thatthere is nothing average about Fairfax County public schools, but Idon't believe that Ms. Newberger's statement that Advanced Placementstudents don't receive extra points for the harder courses isexactly true.
Yes, Fairfax County has a tough grading policy:
A is 94-100; B-plus is 90-93; B is 84-89; C-plus is 80-83; C is74-79; D-plus is 70-73; D is 64-69; F is 0-63.
A score of 90-93 is often an A in other school districts, soFairfax public school students (honors or not) have to work harderfor the A.
However, GPAs are calculated using a 'quality point method,' andthis is FCPS Regulation 2462.4:
'Quality points are numerical values assigned to grades for thepurpose of determining a numerical average. Quality points shall beassigned to grades earned in all courses for which credit isreceived, as follows . . .'
It notes that an A is a 4.0, B-plus is 3.5, B is 3.0, C-plus is2.5, C is 2.0, D-plus is 1.5, D is 1.0 and that F is .0.
Then it states (most notably) that 'Advance Placement (AP)courses and specified International Baccalaureate (IB) courses shallbe weighted for students who pass the course and sit for theappropriate AP or IB exam by applying an additional .5 quality pointto the quality point value assigned to the final grade. An exceptionoccurs if a grade of F is assigned. For example, a final grade of Ain an AP course shall receive 4.5 quality points for purposes ofcalculating grade point average.'
So an honors student does receive extra credit for doing well inan honors class.
This begs the question of how universities view high school GPAs.My hope would be that they would examine each school's gradingpolicy. However, I'm not confident that is always the case.
I recently applied to George Mason University's Graduate Schoolof Education, and had to calculate my undergraduate GPA. GMUspecifically instructs applicants to use the scale of A as 4, B as3, C as 2, D as 1, and E or F as 0 and 'not give credit for plusesor minuses' when calculating undergraduate GPAs. A B-plus iscalculated as a 3.0, and an A-minus as a 4.0. You see the problemnow. An applicant who attended a school with a stricter gradingscale ends up with a lower GPA. Granted, my experience is foradmission into a graduate school, but I'm wondering now whethersimilar policies are used for undergraduate applicants.
Yes, Fairfax County schools challenge their students. As Ms.Newberger states, kids in Fairfax County 'work their tails off' forgood grades. My eighth-grade son is enrolled in two honors classesthat will count toward his high school GPA. He is, by his ownadmission, working much harder for A's here than he did at theDepartment of Defense overseas school he attended last year. Ibelieve this is a good thing in the long run. I simply hope that thecolleges he applies to account for the fact that he is a product ofFairfax County schools.
Tammy Farrar
Springfield
Dear Extra Credit:
I have a different type of grading story.
My oldest child is a fifth-grader, and he received a C inphysical education for the second quarter. We were puzzled by this,and in the teacher comments section of the report card was thisstatement: He needs to learn to 'demonstrate appropriate strikingskills with short-handled implements to achieve success.'
It turns out that badminton was part of physical education lastquarter, and my son said he had trouble serving. Unfortunately,genetics are at work here: Neither his father nor I are athleticallyinclined.
I'm still waiting to hear back from the physical educationteacher about this, but I'm sure my son will still achieve successin life -- even if he doesn't master his serve.
Corinne Marasco
Kingstowne
I shared your son's difficulties in getting good physicaleducation grades, although I finally found a sport, cross-country,that was based more on endurance than coordination, and the semesterthat was on the physical education schedule I got an A. I wish westill required physical education throughout high school. It was agreat way to meet students whom you did not see in your otherclasses.
As for Ms. Farrar's detailed description of the quality pointssystem, she raises an issue that has puzzled me for some time. Ilike the idea of extra grade points for taking AP and IB classes.The courses are unusually demanding, and often frightening tostudents who know that grade-point averages are important in thecollege admission process.
What I have not seen is any research on whether effort should bea factor in assigning AP and IB grades.
The students who get the most out of college level courses arethose who try hardest in them. Many will not get grades on the AP orIB tests high enough for college credit, but by struggling with thematerial, they appear to be better prepared to handle college.
Shouldn't there be a way to encourage such an attitude by lettingteachers raise their classroom grades a bit? As long as they promiseto take the exam, no one will be deceived about how well theymastered the material. The AP and IB graders don't know if theyworked hard or not. But the teacher knows, and I think should havesome leeway in this matter in assigning a report card grade that isdifferent from the grade on the AP or IB exam because those testresults arrive after report cards have been completed.
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