Grading systems can play an intricate role in students' futures. Surprisingly, grades themselves are not that important to colleges. It is a studentÕs Grade Point Average, or GPA, that determines his ultimate academic future. A student's class rank is determined by his combined grade point average from all four years in high school. Students are numerically ranked within their High School class according to this result. Class ranking can determine a student's options, career path, and ultimate level of academic challenge.

Suppose two students are applying to the same competitive college, and both students have all of the same A's & B's in equivalent courses at their separate High Schools. A college receives their transcripts and "Larry" has a weighted 4.2 grade average, while "Winifred" has a standard 3.2 grade. "Winifred" is rejected because her GPA is lower, as is her class rank. The lower a student's class rank is, the less likely are his chances of being accepted into prestigious universities and colleges.

Traditional vs. Weighted Grading

The traditional grading scale totals four points, rewarding students with A's in every class a high score of 4.0. In a weighted grading system, students in Advanced Placement, or AP, courses would be allowed an extra point on their GPA's for that class, permitting a GPA above a 4.0. If a student were to take all AP courses and received an 'A' in every one, his GPA would be a 5.0. While the proposition of a weighted grading system at MDHS has drawn varied feelings, such a system will go into effect at the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year.

The new system would help solve the ongoing soap opera of who is the true valedictorian and salutatorian: each class' top scholars who have obtained the highest GPA's throughout their high school career. These class rankings based on GPA create a steamy issue that usually rules out a motivated, deserving student each year. In the past, students who have selected less-rigorous classes over AP courses have received the prestigious title. This is a primary reason for implementing weighted grading in September of 2004. Many parents, teachers, and students feel that students should be rewarded by a 5.0 grading system for taking challenging classes; possibly the entire reason for implementing weighted grades is to determine a fair valedictorian. However, some feel that the weighted system will play little role in the decision of who becomes valedictorian.

Hard Work and Fair Play

Only students enrolling in AP classes would have the luxury of being governed by the 5.0 structure. "It would level the playing field," says Nancy Krahn, an MDHS parent and an advocating weighted-grades committee member. Students would be more likely to enroll in these courses knowing that they were not at risk of falling behind in class rank to students with a less-rigorous workload.

Some students feel it is unfair to award an extra point to a studentÕs grade in an AP course. Others claim that colleges overlook resumes that do not include AP classes. Nancy Wadsworth, the school counselor at McCall Donnelly High School, feels that most colleges are largely unbiased between weighted GPAÕs and non-weighted systems. "Depending on the school," Nancy says, "there are so many applications to look through that they look at other things in addition to the GPA to see how involved a student is, such as participation in sports, working a part time job, class load and rigor of classes taken, and community service. A perfect 4.0 is not all that colleges look for these days."

Community Opinions

Many parents of students attending McCall-Donnelly High School are in favor of a weighted grading system. A supporting parent explains: "We thought they should weight [AP courses] because the brighter students should be encouraged to take a more rigorous workload, that teachers grade harder. [It] prepares kids well for college." Merry Armstrong, another advocating parent and weighted-grading committee member, says that she became a believer in the new system after learning that many northwestern institutions could no longer afford to pay for someone to re-weight GPA's on student applications from High Schools with different grading systems. She explains that colleges used to do so, but due to a surge in application numbers, many colleges no longer fund the position. Merry believes that the current 4.0 system favors students who earn high grades in lower-level classes. She says that, "[a weighted grading system] doesn't hurt anyone whatsoever, it just negates penalization for AP students." She also found that many of the people who oppose a weighted grading system, "feel that it doesn't matter, that [colleges and universities] re-weight the grades themselves." Merry says that she did not find that to be true when she spoke to universities in the spring of 2003.

Students Weigh In

Most students at McCall-Donnelly High School are in favor of weighted grading. However, there are some students and teachers who believe that weighting grades is unnecessary. "It gives less of a chance for not-so-academically-talented students," says Skyler Yeast, a student at McCall-Donnelly High School. Another student, Molly Boone, says, "the courses are harder for a reason, and colleges know that AP courses are more difficult than regular ones."

Some students and teachers think that if this advantage were presented to the student body, some students would not try as hard to earn an "A" in AP classes because a "B" would reward a student with a 4.0 anyway. Karen Olsen, a Math and History teacher at MDHS, says, "If I were teaching an AP class, I would be concerned that the students might lower their standards and not put forth their maximum effort." Many teachers at MDHS feel that it is difficult to differentiate AP classes from normal ones. Science teacher Andrew Cochrane says, "It is tough to make the distinction between AP classes and normal ones, because not only AP courses are hard."

A Positive Outlook

Weighted grading would reward students who take harder classes. "Kids who challenge themselves need to be acknowledged," says Bob Burns, a Math teacher at MDHS. He feels that in the past, kids have avoided AP classes in order to keep their GPA's from falling. Anita Cussler, a student at MDHS says, "It's sad, but some people actually take easy courses just to keep their 4.0. But they are shooting themselves in the foot because they're not learning as much as they couldÉbut, weighted grading would take the pressure off students who are really worried about their grades because if they get a B on a 5.0 scale, it won't affect their 4.0."

Many students who are academically-oriented feel that a Weighted Grading system would allow them to be "rewarded for taking harder courses and not penalized," says MDHS student Fallon Decker. Another student, Travis Drake, says that he already takes as many rigorous classes as he can, but he "would be more motivated to continue doing so" if the classes were graded on a 5.0 scale. These students are currently taking challenging AP and Honors courses. Even without weighted grades, they manage to obtain a 3.5 or higher GPA.

Although not all people feel weighted grading is a just way of sorting students, Bob Burns gives an honest assessment of how such a system could affect students after High School: "There is no such thing as completely fair grading, but we live in a competitive world. Years ago, I was telling some students about competing in Robie Creek and a good athlete asked me if I had won the race. After replying that I could not win a race like Robie, she then asked me why I would compete in something where I would not win. As a coach and teacher, I try to focus more on improvement and effort. Weighted grading will increase enrollment in AP classes and lessen the number of students taking easier course loads to protect their 4.0."

Winning is not the only prize. Ê

This piece was printed inThe Star News on August 19,2004. The paper added the following biography of the authors:

The authors of this viewpoint are currently seniors at McCall-Donnelly High School. They interviewed MDHS students, parents, teachers, and administrators in the winter of 2004. Written as a project for their 11th grade Honors American Literature class at The North Fork School in McCall, the piece required the authors to select a controversial topic in their community, to gather diverse opinions about it, and to synthesize the results of their efforts. The greatest challenge of the assignment was to present information in a positive manner, clearly and concisely enough to be acceptable for publication.

As first flakes hit frozen grass, the new season
begins. Preparation starts for
the madness of winter.
Snow tires, firewood, mittens, jackets, frozen car doors,
procrastinated projects rush toward completion during
the first snow.
Though winter is the best season,
tasks like these make it hard to enjoy.
The fun starts after these jobs are put to bed,
tucked away like little babies in their cribs.
It does not stop until Spring.