WEIGHTED GRADES AND OTHER MATTERS OF DISTINCTION WHAT SHOULD WE REWARD?

BACKGROUND An Inherited a Grade Weighting System Designed to encourage students to take a rigorous schedule Honors classes:.5 honor points per semester (A = 4.5) AP classes: 1.0 honor points per semester (A = 5.0) Designed to build an Honors/AP Program Then One Parent Asked a Question Why is my daughter number 2? “That’s the way the calculation works.” Observed a Growing Culture of Misdirected Competition Students (and parents) began to play a “GPA Game.” Students were pitted against with each other over rank.

CHANGES IMPLEMENTED IN 2010 Surveyed Other Oakland County Schools (in 2010) In the spirit of full disclosure, some schools began weighted grades after Talked To Admissions Representatives Division 1 and Division 2 Every college or university handles this differently Designed a New System Classification and Recognition More Fair and Serves More Students

CHANGES IMPLEMENTED IN 2010 STARTING WITH THE CLASS OF 2015, WE HAVE… Removed Weight from Honors and AP Classes Discontinued Publicizing Rank (Except for Colleges and Scholarships) Implemented a New Process for Choosing Commencement Speakers Valedictorians and Salutatorians are Eligible Selected by a committee of at least three (3) Adjusted High Honors for Seniors Summa Cum Laude ( ) Magna Cum Laude ( ) Cum Laude ( ) Honor Graduates ( )

CHANGE IMPLEMENTED IN 2014 STARTING WITH THE CLASS OF 2015, WE WILL… Grant high school credit for Dual Enrollment State of Michigan Permits Dual Credit Avondale did not grant dual credit automatically UM and MSU change in policy Early College Program If grades continued to be weighted, Dual Enrollment would have been eligible Remove grades for repeated classes (D’s or E’s) from the GPA calculation

WHAT DO WE VALUE IN STUDENTS? Students Who Work Hard Students Who Get Good Grades (All A’s!) Students Who Earn Great Test Scores Students Who Are Prepared For a University Education Students Who Are Admitted to Elite Schools Students Who Can Compete for Scholarships Students Who Cooperate and Support Each Other EXCELLENCE IN ALL AREAS

WHAT DO WE VALUE AS EDUCATORS? Providing a Rich, Rigorous, and Challenging Curriculum Rewarding Students Who Achieve in Their Areas of Interest Policies that are Accurate and Fair FOR ALL STUDENTS

HERE ARE THE ISSUES Problem with WEIGHTED GRADES We can’t mix a 4.0 scale and a 5.0 scale and have it work. The math doesn’t work and the results are unfair. Problem with Calculating a GPA to FOUR DECIMAL POINTS The results amount to “false precision.” The distinctions between students are statistically insignificant. Problem with RANKING STUDENTS What is the value of rank? Which criteria should we use? It is accurate and fair? Can we really determine who is the “best” student?

A4.0 A-3.7 B+3.4 B3.0 B-2.7 C+2.4 C2.0 C-1.7 D+1.4 D1.0 D-0.7 E0.0 AVONDALE HIGH SCHOOL GRADING SCALE

WHO IS THE BETTER STUDENT? STUDENT A A’s40 B’s2 Honors9 AP11 Dual Enrolled3 ACT33 PSAT%97 STUDENT B A’s49 B’s0 Honors9 AP11 Dual Enrolled3 ACT36 PSAT%99

WHO WINS THE GAME? STUDENT A #1 VALEDICTORIAN Weighted GPA A’s40 B’s2 Honors9 AP11 Dual Enrolled3 ACT33 PSAT%97 STUDENT B #2 SALUTATORIAN Weighted GPA A’s49 B’s0 Honors11 AP11 Dual Enrolled3 ACT36 PSAT%99 The student with the most weighted classes and the fewest un-weighted classes wins.

LET’S DO THE MATH! STUDENT A A’s40 (38 A, 2 A-) B+’s2 Honors9 AP11 (40 x 4.0)+(2 x 3.7)+(2 x 3.0)+(9 x.5)+(11x1.0) 42 = STUDENT B A’s49 (47 A, 2 A-) B+’s0 Honors9 AP11 (47 x 4.0) + (2 X 3.7) (9 x.5) + (11 x 1.0) 49 =

FALSE PRECISION False precision occurs when numerical data are presented in a manner that implies better precision than is actually the case. Unless a margin of error is explicitly stated, the number of significant figures used in the presentation of data should be limited to what is warranted by the precision of those data. For example, if grades are awarded in tenths of a point, the results of calculations using data obtained from those grades can only be confidently stated to the tenths place, regardless of what the raw calculation returns.

LET’S DO THE MATH! STUDENT A A’s40 (38 A, 2 A-) B+’s2 Honors9 AP11 (40 x 4.0)+(2 x 3.7)+(2 x 3.0)+(9 x.5)+(11x1.0) 42 = STUDENT B A’s49 (47 A, 2 A-) B+’s0 Honors9 AP11 (47 x 4.0) + (2 X 3.7) (9 x.5) + (11 x 1.0) 49 = 4.304

LET’S DO THE MATH! STUDENT A A’s40 (38 A, 2 A-) B+’s2 Honors9 AP11 (40 x 4.0)+(2 x 3.7)+(2 x 3.0)+(9 x.5)+(11x1.0) 42 = 4.33 STUDENT B A’s49 (47 A, 2 A-) B+’s0 Honors9 AP11 (47 x 4.0) + (2 X 3.7) (9 x.5) + (11 x 1.0) 49 = 4.30

LET’S DO THE MATH! STUDENT A A’s40 (38 A, 2 A-) B+’s2 Honors9 AP11 (40 x 4.0)+(2 x 3.7)+(2 x 3.0)+(9 x.5)+(11x1.0) 42 = 4.3 STUDENT B A’s49 (47 A, 2 A-) B+’s0 Honors9 AP11 (47 x 4.0) + (2 X 3.7) (9 x.5) + (11 x 1.0) 49 = 4.3

WHICH CRITERIA SHOULD WE USE? WEIGHTED GRADES RankStudentWeighted 1A B C D E F G H I J K L UNWEIGHTED GRADES RankStudentUn-Weighted 1X4.00 2F3.99 3B3.98 3C 5A3.95 6H3.94 7E3.93 7G 9D I J L3.90

WHO IS THE BEST STUDENT? ACT SCORE RankStudentACT 1 B36 2 A33 2 G 2 N 4 K32 5 F31 5 E 5 P 9 C30 9 D 9 I 9 L AP CLASSES RankStudentAP 1B11 1A 3D10 4G8 4K8 6C7 6E7 6N7 6M7 6L7 11H6 I6

WHAT DO WE WANT TO REWARD? WEIGHTED GRADES ROUNDED TO A TENTH RankStudentRound Weighted 1 A4.3 1 B 1 C 1 D 5 E4.2 5 F 5 G 5 H 5 I 5 J 5 K 5 L UNWEIGHTED GRADES ROUNDED TO A TENTH RankStudentAP 1 A4.0 1 B 1 C 1 F 1 X 6 D3.9 6 E 6 G 6 H 6 I 6 J 6 K

RankStudentRecalc’d GPA ACT Score Rigor 1 B4.036Yes 1 C4.030Yes 1 F4.031Yes 1 G4.033Yes 1 L4.030Yes 1 X4.027No 7 E3.931Yes 7 H3.927Yes 9 A3.833Yes 9 D3.830Yes 9 I3.830Yes 9 J3.826Yes WHAT IF WE USE THE U-M FORMULA? WHO WOULD BE ADMITTED? 1.Recalculated GPA  A or A- = 4.0  B+, B, or B- = 3.0  C+, C, or C- = Rigor of Curriculum 3.Test Scores 4.Essay and Student’s Voice 5.Recommendations

RankStudentGPA 5% X4.00 5% F3.99 5% B3.98 5% C3.98 5% A3.95 5% H3.94 5% E3.93 5% G3.93 5% D3.92 5% I3.90 5% J3.90 5% L3.90 5% T3.90 OR RECOGNIZE THE TOP 5% OR 10%? RankStudentGPA 10% Y % N % K % M % V % Z % W % O % Q % P % S % U % R3.72

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDE Admissions and Scholarships Every college or university handles GPA differently OU adds points for AP classes UM uses a strict un-weighted system Some schools use whichever GPA is on the transcript, which we know seems unfair. In some cases, using un-weighted grades affects scholarship offers. Most often, however, the issue is the ACT score.

SUMMARY  It’s good to reward students who challenge themselves and work hard.  Weighting grades and ranking is unfair, arbitrary, and doesn’t accomplish the goals of the district.