How does your school grade the students?

[Papa Deuce]

Do they give 1 ( lowest ) to 4 ( highest ), Excels, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement, Unsaitsfactory, or do they do A, B, C, D, F? How about by percent?

And do you like it? Pros ? Cons?

I think that schools just wanted to eliminate the negative connotation of the "F". Maybe there are reasons I don't know of but, this is what I believe. Or maybe it has to do with "grading" the teachers so that they don't have to meet certain expectations.

BTW: I LOVE AND RESPECT ALMOST ALL TEACHERS! THEY ARE UNDERPAID AND UNDERAPPRECIATED.

But really how does that benefit anybody? Gee, I'm "unsatisfactory", but at least I'm not a failure! 'Course the kid ain't any smarter no matter what you call him or her, but it sounds less offensive! And that makes the politically correct folks very happy, I am sure.

 

[teacherforhi]

I know the elementary schools don't give letter grades in kindergarten and first grade. After all, who wants their 5-year-old being told they're a "failure" in learning to tie their shoes (listed under "self-help skills"). All grades are S, I, or U. After that they are given letter grades...A, B, C, D, or F. They still received S, I, and U for things like conduct and handwriting and such.

Most teachers grade on a 7-point scale. However, there are a few that grade on a 10-point, myself included. Just makes it easier for my students to figure out what letter grade it corresponds to.

 

[Sparx]

My School's grading rubric

A 100-92
B 91-85
C 84-79
D 78-71
F 70 and below

 

[shortbun]

My School's grading rubric

A 100-92
B 91-85
C 84-79
D 78-71
F 70 and below

That's good. A lot of schools have gone to 90-100=A and so forth.
our schools vary. ES has no grades, just pass fail with effort points,
middle schools begin using percentages with no grades assigned except-
under 60% fails.

 

[Laurajean1014]

DS goes to private school. They rate academics in letter grade order 'A, B, C" and rate attitude and participation by Satisifactory, Needs Improvement, etc.

I like it this way. You get to see if your son participates but doesn't get A's and vise versa. I like getting involved and participating and this allows me to view my son's participation and his academic absorbsion.

 

[supercarrie]

The elementary schools have 2 different grading systems. Each grade level has several key standards in each subject listed. The students receive a 1 for exceeding proficiency, a 2 for proficient, and a 3 for "working to achieve proficiency." For classes such as PE, art, etc, a grading scale of E,G,S,N,U is used, with E=A, G=B, S=C, N=D, and U=F basically.

I like the standards grading scale (it is used for my sister, I don't have children yet!) because it breaks it down very carefully what specific areas of each subject need to be focused on, rather than just one grade for math, one for English, etc. I have never really understood the E,G,S, etc grading scale. That was used while I was in elementary school for all subjects and since everyone seeks it as the same as the A-F scale, it makes no sense to me to use that. Obviously a U is going to be looked at just as badly as a F.

The middle schools and high schools use the traditional A-F grading scale. I just graduated high school last year, and I was fine with the traditional scales being used. There has to be some determination of when a person doesn't meet the criteria for passing the class or graduating high school, and any other word or phrase really would just be the PC version of fail, anyways, imo.

 

[mum4jenn]

Way back in the dark ages we used numbers 1=100-90 etc. I think probably in late elem or maybe Jr high it was changed to letter grades. Also they varied through the years from the 7 point to 10 point. It was ten point when I was in school and later on went to 7 point It is back to the 10 point until you get to D and it is 65-69. Anything below 65 is an F. Kindergarten just gets S,N,and I think I. 1st grade was letter grades in most subjects and S etc in a few of them.

I am so tired of all the junk going on the not make the failing student feel "bad". It all takes away from the students that are a success. Even my dds gifted class is not called that anymore. It is called "challenge" because they don't want to make the other students feel bad. The awards program in the lower elem grades are not announced in front of the kids so they don't make the other kids feel bad. We were given a folder with one certificate listing all of dds awards on one sheet of paper. Even in Kind when she was the only student reading she was only given a little paper with "most enthusiastic reader" on it instead of another award "so the other students don't feel bad".

What ever happened to making the ones that work hard and make good grades feel special and like they really accomplished something???????? At least when she gets to my school in 3rd garde alot of that changes. They give recognition to all of the accomplishments. To me seeing a kid go up on stage too recieve numerous awards is nice and it makes the children want to work harder. Even my dd decided she did not want to miss any school next year to go to Orlando so she can get recognized for perfect attendance.

 

[chobie]

Any variation in letter grades being implemented these days is likely to be done in order to be more in line with the NCLB Act. So, I guess it would be political correctness motivating it.

 

[aprilgail2]

E-evident
OE-often evident
SE-sometimes evedent
NE-not evident

once they hit 3rd grade it goes to A B C D F

 

[sweet angel]

Schools here use A-F, my schools growing up used 1-5 (with 1 being the highest -- which really screwed me up in college when looking for a 4.0 average)

 

[chrissyk]

My School's grading rubric

A 100-92
B 91-85
C 84-79
D 78-71
F 70 and below

I think that my mother's school (elementary) grades on a similar scale. The thing that I don't understand is why 70 and below is failing I always thought that 60 was the cutoff for failing. I've had this discussion with my mother before. Now that I'm becoming a teacher, I worry about this somewhat. I don't want to have to dumb-down the work (sorry, couldn't think of a more PC term) in order for the majority of the kids to stay about a 70 average. I hope that the school where I work goes on the 60 and below scale for failing.

 

[elismom]

My DS is in grade 5 and they use the A to F grades.
The problem he has a his friendi n his class goes to special ed( a whole other story).
And its the same report card.
My DS worked very hard at his writting this year and recived a B+
HIs friend how can only read at a grade 2 level got a A.
The special ed teacher told his mom she needed to help him with his reading ,
Her answer was "why should I he got a A"
I think the special ed should have a differnt grade system like maybe
G,H,I,J and K
just my thoughts.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Grammar school K-2nd grade do the 1-4 grading. 3rd-5th grade use the letter A,B,C,D & F. Middle through High school use the actual numbers. I like that the best.

 

[Ness2289]

Our county has just recently gone from letters to numbers. (1-4) However, 3 is the grade to shoot for, and 4 is above and beyond grade level.

 

[tiggerdog]

My DS is in grade 5 and they use the A to F grades.
The problem he has a his friendi n his class goes to special ed( a whole other story).
And its the same report card.
My DS worked very hard at his writting this year and recived a B+
HIs friend how can only read at a grade 2 level got a A.
The special ed teacher told his mom she needed to help him with his reading ,
Her answer was "why should I he got a A"
I think the special ed should have a differnt grade system like maybe
G,H,I,J and K
just my thoughts.

This child's report card probably has "Modified Curriculum and Grading" on it somewhere.

Most children who are special ed already feel pretty self conscience about attending different classes or having different assignments. Can you imagine what a totally different grading scale would do to their already low self esteem?

NCLB will cause many schools to go away from the traditional grading systems.

 

[IdleChatter]

Our high school just adopte the more lenient grading system:
A= 90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F=below 60
Until last year it took a 66 toget a D and a 75 to get a C.

The reason given was to be more competitive with other schools who used the more lenient systems. Student's overall grade averages were used in granting scholarships etc.

(I think) all the teachers did was adjust their graing sscales. The same work that used to get a 75 now got a 70.

 

[TxJasmine]

This is a very interesting thread. I didn't realize that there were so many different grading systems. The school district here uses E,S,N,U in K and 1st grade. From 2nd grade on they use the actual percentage. I prefer this way because it shows the exact score.

 

[paigevz]

I am so tired of all the junk going on the not make the failing student feel "bad". It all takes away from the students that are a success. Even my dds gifted class is not called that anymore. It is called "challenge" because they don't want to make the other students feel bad. The awards program in the lower elem grades are not announced in front of the kids so they don't make the other kids feel bad. We were given a folder with one certificate listing all of dds awards on one sheet of paper. Even in Kind when she was the only student reading she was only given a little paper with "most enthusiastic reader" on it instead of another award "so the other students don't feel bad".

What ever happened to making the ones that work hard and make good grades feel special and like they really accomplished something???????? At least when she gets to my school in 3rd garde alot of that changes. They give recognition to all of the accomplishments. To me seeing a kid go up on stage too recieve numerous awards is nice and it makes the children want to work harder. Even my dd decided she did not want to miss any school next year to go to Orlando so she can get recognized for perfect attendance.

I have a problem with this too, and agree with Eli's mom also. Our report card lists the percentage, but anything under 70 is considered an F, for first grade on. For conduct, work habits, health (which is always just an S for everyone.....I don't know why it's still on the card if it's not actually graded), and handwriting (and all the "specials".........music, PE, etc) there is E for Exceeds expectations, S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, and U for unsatisfactory. Kinder and Pre-K use the same scale for conduct and work habits, but a checklist of skills otherwise. A plus means they have mastered it, a minus means it's been introduced but they can't do it, and a blank square means it hasn't been introduced yet. The card is in six pages that copy through........one from the back is torn off each six weeks to be sent home. By the last six weeks there should be a mark on each skill, and the minuses can be changed to pluses as the child acquires the skill. I like this method.