By Aaron Chelliah
Opinion Editor
With more competition to gain admission to colleges, teachers should do whatever they can to support students through more consistent rounding practices.
Rounding policies at Costa are individualized and range widely from teacher to teacher. Some teachers offer conditional extra credit to those who have a borderline grade, while others supply the extra points necessary to bring students to the next grade.
In today’s constant struggle to attain the highest grade point average possible, while simultaneously participating in multiple extracurricular activities, teachers need to understand the impact an 89.5 percent in a class has on a student’s future. Although the difference between half a percentage can be as small as five points in the class, the difference between the 3.0 Costa attributes to a B and the 4.0 for an A is immense. Considering that many colleges accept average GPAs above a 4.0, teachers should round students up to higher grades if they are within a reasonable range.
Additionally, the primary purpose of a course is to educate students on a given topic, not to label them with a numerical value. Although students today are inclined to focus far more on the grade rather than the learning aspect, more considerate and widely-practiced rounding policies could help shift the focus from grades to learning.
According to junior Derek Zeoli, chemistry teacher Charlotte Shales-Clark’s grading policies help compensate for the rigor of the Advanced Placement Chemistry course and allow him to focus more on the material rather than his grade in the class. This slight adjustment in policy could grant students the peace of mind necessary to achieve their full potential in difficult classes.
By restructuring the grading system to incorporate grades with a “plus” or “minus,” students would be able to receive a GPA that is more indicative of their academic acheivement in any given class. Currently, there is no differece between an 80% and an 89%, making class ranking less accurate than it should ideally be. This gives colleges an incomplete idea of a given student, detrimenting students’ abilities to gain admission into colleges.
The impact of this unprecise grading policy can be seen within the South Bay, where the Costa students’ inaccurately weighted GPAs pale more distinctly to the generous weighting and rounding practices of some surrounding priviate schools. With these factors working in the favor of the nearby private school students, Costa students face intense competition for college admission.
The administration of Vistamar, a local private school, stated that its teachers do not have a set rounding policy that is more lenient than other schools and that the grade rounding policy is up to each teacher’s discretion.
Yet, according to students, these rounding policies are completely based on citizenship grades. Considering that nearly every student receives the highest or above average mark in citizenship, this policy for grading is very beneficial for private school students. Costa should look to adopt a similar grade-rounding standard, considering citizenship is a valid and worthy reason to round a grade.
In summation, grade-rounding policies should be geared toward helping students compete with other students benefitting from increasingly-lenient grading systems. This can be achieved by providing a minimal amount of aid to students who demonstrate a strong effort in class and contribute to the general school status.
To do this, Costa should follow the policies of some private schools and base rounding of grades off of citizenship. With this support, students would be able to achieve their unimpeded academic potential.
Leave a Reply