<p>I remember seeing articles about the Fairfax grading system in the Post in 2008. In that article or others I've seen that schools still tend to give out the As, Bs and Cs in the same proportions no matter what grading system is used. If the grades are reported as numbers on your transcript it may even work out to your advantage as most admissions officers will probably forget that a 90 isn't an A or A-. In the end I believe your rank is more important.</p>
<p>We live in a different part of VA and the people from Fairfax are misinformed if they think that's the only place where you have to get a 94 to get an A. In the Tidewater region, the grading scale is the same and it's my understanding that it will eventually be standardized across VA, so that everyone has an equal shot at the great state universities. The basic problem with Fairfax is that there are too many cookie-cutter kids who have highly educated and highly competitive parents. It's not the grades that are the problem as much as the overall competitiveness of the school districts themselves -- basically too many kids all aiming for the exact same thing out of life, same schools, same professions, etc. We were fortunate to move away from Fairfax but we used to joke about going to live on a farm in Shenandoah when our kids hit college application age and having a REALLY long commute to jobs in the DC area. Personally, I think the solution isn't to move the GPA criteria, but rather to branch out in one's definition of success -- or move away.</p>
<p>We live in a different part of VA and the people from Fairfax are misinformed if they think that's the only place where you have to get a 94 to get an A. In the Tidewater region, the grading scale is the same and it's my understanding that it will eventually be standardized across VA, so that everyone has an equal shot at the great state universities. The basic problem with Fairfax is that there are too many cookie-cutter kids who have highly educated and highly competitive parents. It's not the grades that are the problem as much as the overall competitiveness of the school districts themselves -- basically too many kids all aiming for the exact same thing out of life, same schools, same professions, etc. We were fortunate to move away from Fairfax but we used to joke about going to live on a farm in Shenandoah when our kids hit college application age and having a REALLY long commute to jobs in the DC area. Personally, I think the solution isn't to move the GPA criteria, but rather to branch out in one's definition of success -- or move away.</p>
<p>Momzie,</p>
<p>Where is your information that the grading scale will be standardized across Virginia? A level playing field is exactly the point of Fairgrade.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sure, it's that way in geek_son's high school. 90% to 93% is an A-. There are B+'s, but no A+'s.
[/quote]
At least you have - and + on the report cards and transcripts.
Where I am, it is the 94=A grading scale, and there are no minuses or pluses. </p>
<p>Fairfax County parents like to do a lot of complaining...</p>
<p>at my D's independent school in Baltimore, here's the scale for unweighted course grades:</p>
<p>97 – 100 A+<br>
93 – 96 A
90 – 92 A-
87 – 89 B+
83 – 86 B
80 – 82 B-
77 – 79 C+
73 – 76 C
70 – 72 C
65 – 69 D
Below 65 F</p>
<p>GPA is reported on a 100-scale, not 4 or 5 system.</p>
<p>Grading is pretty arbitrary in high school. It was only in my honors level classes where our strict 90% = A system was used. In those classes, and on grade level ones, it was pretty easy for a top student to earn above a 90%, and pretty rare for an average student who put forth minimal effort to fail. In AP courses, the teachers scaled the grades. For example, if an exam had an average of a 65%, they would readjust our grades such that an 80% on the test would be put into our grade books as a 90% and so on. If the minimum for an A was a 94%, then the 80% on the test would probably have been put in as a 94%. </p>
<p>The only time I really saw an issue with grading was when my friend moved to my school from VA. He had some B+s on his transcript. In his district, an A was 94-100 and B+ was 90-93. He asked the county to recognize that, but they changed all of his B+s to Bs which caused his GPA to take a hit.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The report was prompted by a year-long parent-led campaign to change the grading policy and level the playing field for students, who policy opponents say are not being graded fairly. Fairfax high school students are required to earn at least 94 percent to earn an A and at least 64 percent to pass a class.
[/quote]
This is one of my pet peeve complaints ... this complaint means nothing without knowing the difficulty of the class or the distribution of the grades. </p>
<p>Which class would rather be in </p>
<p>*One where a 94% is required for an A but the average is 98% and 75% of the kids get an A</p>
<ul>
<li>One where a 90% is required for an A but the average is 88% and 25% of the kids get an A</li>
</ul>
<p>Knowing the percantile requirement in a vacumn provides almost no information about the grading situation</p>
<p>The only time I really saw an issue with grading was when my friend moved to my school from VA. >>></p>
<p>We moved from Fairfax County to another state. DD had 2 B+s (93s) on her transcripts. The new school kept them as B's and dropped her AP weighting, so her GPA ended up dropping. Even though she had taken classes that weren't even offered at the new school and had gotten A's in all but the two of them and got 10 As at the new school during her senior year (dual enrollment), she did not graduate in the top 10% of her class. That 10% is a criteria for many scholarships.</p>
<p>Exactly what 3togo said. It's all about the distribution of grades.</p>
<p>At our hs, where 94=A, the profile makes the all important point (imo) that a relatively small percentage of the students have A averages (I forget the exact percentage).</p>
<p>Makes very clear that there is no grade inflation, and makes those hard-to-get As (at our school) mean something.</p>
<p>Fairfax always has something to complain about... ;) Our school is 90+ for a A, etc. on a 4.0 scale. No pluses, no minuses. NO extra credit. Noone has 100+ averages. The distribution is still pretty tough, at least where S1 and S2 attend. As for the actual grading standards...what passes for a VERY hard-won B in S2's English class would get him As anywhere else, including most colleges.</p>
<p>I live in Richmond VA (Henrico County) and we have a 7 point scale. My sister's kids in NJ use a 10 point scale, which on the surface may seem advantageous. However, my sister recently attended a lecture at a highly selective university that indicated many universities rework GPA's to create uniformity among applicants. I am guessing as long as your transcript provides a "number" they will calculate it their way and dismiss whatever GPA is provided.</p>
<p>My school used to have just last year 96 was to get an A, 92 was to get an A-, they just changed it this year but the change seems like a waste to me now :/.</p>
<p>In my high school, teachers generally used the 10 point scale. Some of the IB teachers used the A: 100-93, B: 92-86, C: 85-77, D: 76-70, F: 69 or below. Our physics teacher used an A: 100-85, B: 85-75, C: 75-60, D: 60-50, F: 49 or below because he thought his class was so hard. (I breezed through it. Physics is so freaking easy!).</p>
<p>Well, at least this kind of gets them ready for the college "I'll grade it likes I sees it" completely subjective grading scale. :eek:</p>
<p>I live in Fairfax and I don't have an opinion on FAIRGRADE. But I know the county schools do a tremendous job of preparing these kids for college. They work hard in high school to get Cs and Bs and are pleasantly surprised when they go to college and get As. So there is a definite plus side to Fairfax's grading scheme.</p>
<p>And for the record, Fairfax does not produce "cookie-cutter kids" who want the same thing out of life, "same schools, same professions". Such a generalization is ridiculous!</p>
<p>One aspect of the parental concern is that neighboring, and competing, Montgomery Co. Maryland is more generous in the grading scale and AP course weighting.</p>
<p>My D attending a Catholic school in Fairfax with a grading scale similar to the public system.</p>
<p>Here is my high school's grading scale:</p>
<p>A: 95-100
B: 88-94
C: 81-87
D: 75-80
F: below 75</p>
<p>There are NO PLUS OR MINUS ON GPA or grading. You either get a 4 or 3(A or B) depending on what you get. I got a 3.0 on one class for getting a 94.2% on a semester grade even though I aced the language test perfectly including the speaking part, which was like 10 minutes of interview with our teacher. I was not happy with that, but what are you going to do? I think anything below 70 should be failing. I think our scale is a little on the high side.</p>
<p>This applies to all levels: Regulars, Honors, and AP classes. NO EXTRA CREDIT ON ANY CLASS allowed either. Some teachers cheat the policy and allow extra credit, no student has complained from those few times a teacher has offered extra credit to improve their grade as far as I know.</p>
<p>90% of people who got an A cheated because it was impossible to really maintain an A. On our AP classes, it is rare to see more than 3 As. If there are more than 3, then the others who got also an A cheated. I am not joking. A lot of people cheat to get an A. I would say 90% of As were obtained through cheating since few individuals can actually earn them in a legit manner. I remember once in Econ class, I had the highest legit grade, with two As being cheated by those who had them. There were NO legit As in that class all year since I kept missing the A and those 5 As(3 in one semester and two in another) were through cheating. I am not talking about me speculating, I literally saw them and was told by them that they cheated.</p>
<p>That was the same for most classes. In one class there were two legit As, me and another guy. NOBODY else could maintain an A all semester till in the final some people cheated and there ended up being 4 As in the class. Me and the other guy were good friends and we literally had the whole class begging to be on our group since sometimes the teacher curved those "group projects"(which was really more of a massive study guide before finals which are a few hours long for each class) or whatever which usually consisted of a few essays, 300 multiple choice problems, and whatnot.</p>
<p>At the end it was no surprise, I got the 5 in the AP exam along with the other guy and those cheating As got 4 and a 3. </p>
<p>If you got an A in the class, you were almost guarantee a 5 on the AP exam. Even if you got a B, you still had a high chance of a 5. The class average was a 4 which made sense considering most were getting Bs and Cs. Those who were at the end of the AP classes got 3s, those who got Bs and Cs got 4s mainly, those who got As were rarely ever seen without a 5. Our grades were a good guide to what we were going to get on the AP exam. I still think the grades are a bit high as a lot of 5s often got Bs in the class. If you are getting 5s on your AP exams, by most school standards, you would be getting an A in a class.</p>
<p>the latest news on the issue:"Opponents of Grading Policy Turn Out in Force" washingtonpost.com</a> - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hundreds of parents and students filled every auditorium seat, every inch of carpeted floor and even the lobby at Luther Jackson Middle School last night to urge the Fairfax County School Board to align its grading policy with those of most other school systems.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
The parent organization contends that the system puts Fairfax students at a disadvantage when they seek college admission or scholarships.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
Fairfax high school students must earn at least 94 percent to receive an A and at least 64 percent to pass. In most school systems, 90 percent gets an A, and 60 is a passing grade. Many systems also reward students with a boost in their grade-point average if they take more-challenging courses.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
to urge the Fairfax County School Board to align its grading policy with those of most other school systems.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Do they want Fairfax to have the same reputation as most other school systems?</p>