The Virginian-Pilot
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PORTSMOUTH
For the coming school year, the division's grading scale may look like others in South Hampton Roads, and the 2.0 grade-point average requirement to graduate may be dropped.
School leaders say the moves could help more students graduate and could give them a fairer shot in the competition for college admission. The proposals were discussed Saturday at a School Board retreat. Board members plan to vote on them later this month.
The changes would "align" the division's practices with other local school divisions, leaders said. In South Hampton Roads, most divisions will use a more generous grading scale than Portsmouth and none imposes a grade-point average requirement to graduate, Portsmouth officials said.
Leaders lamented the possibility of giving up the requirement - a proposal made by the city's high school principals - but noted that Portsmouth has one of the highest dropout rates in the state. About one of every five students drops out of high school.
The differences in grading scales and graduation requirements put Portsmouth students at a disadvantage, officials said.
This past school year, a committee made up of school staff, including principals and leaders from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, examined the grading scale and concluded Portsmouth should adopt the same scale most other divisions will use.
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk school divisions have adjusted their scales. Point ranges for grades have been expanded, and plus and minus grading has been incorporated. In all three divisions, the point range for an A will be 93- 100, and students can earn an A- for 90- 92. Additionally, 87- 89 will earn a B+; 83- 86, a B; 80- 82, a B-, and so forth.
Portsmouth currently requires students achieve a score of 94- 100 to earn an A; 84-93 for a B; 74-83 for a C; 68-73 for a D; and anything below 68 merits an F. Currently, the division does not offer plus and minus grade options.
Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com
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I've been trying to figure
I've been trying to figure this out for a couple days. The current grading scale allows Portsmouth students with a 68 or 69 average to earn a D, and pass the course (just barely). In other cities, students must earn at least a 70 for the D that allows them to pass the course (just barely). By going to the new scale, Portsmouth students will actually have to do BETTER in order to earn that passing grade of D. If this is correct, I don't understand what people are complaining about. This move would appear to RAISE the bar, not lower it.
Stupid...
This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If a kid that got an F on the current grading scale gets a D on the new one, it doesn't mean they are any smarter. It just means they were handed a better grade to get them out the door. Pretty soon you'll get an A just for knowing how to write your name. They are just encouraging and creating a society full of lazy dummies by doing this. Basically it's saying "you don't have to be as smart as you used to in order to graduate". They are setting the bar another rung lower.
?
Schools, in general, are so messed up, does anyone know where to start?
Some kids going to school the first day is already messed up at home and the schools soon bring the rest down to that level.
2.0, 1.5, pick a number. At least, teach them to function as adults after 12 years.
Unfortunately, many school districts leaving behind standards...
Unfortunately, many school districts are leaving standards behind in their attempts to leave no child behind. Rather than adjusting policies and procedures to comfort unmotivated students in their state of minimal performance, why not provide consequences that motivate the unmotivated? It seems that the most politically expedient approach for politicians and policy makers regarding education is to lower the bar, then blame the teachers for the results of their own policies that lower standards for behavior and academic performance. It would be nice to see politicians and educational beaurocrats held accountable for the results of their politically convenient policies.
Sad!
"School leaders say the moves could help more students graduate and could give them a fairer shot in the competition for college admission"
School leaders? Sounds more like "future politicians" to me! As a former vocational educator, I taught to Portsmouth high school graduates. Some could barely write a cohesive sentence, nor read a passage from a book. Coupled with my "open book" qizzes, some failed and tried to blame me for failing! They had a shot as far as competition, but they didn't have the "time" and "knowledge" to back up that graduation they carried from Portsmouth.
"Fairer shot" for college? What college are you talking about? University Of Entitlement? Education is tough, life is tougher without an education! Someone tell me if a Portsmouth grad with a 2.5 average gets into Brown, Yale, Dartmouth, ODU or William & Mary! The "dumbing down" of America syndrome rolls on!
Be a part of the solution not the problem.
Another reason our students are failing because of lousy teachers like you.
Graduation requirements are
Graduation requirements are that students pass their required subjects in order to earn a diploma. A D isn't a stellar grade but in this state (and across the country, as far as I know) it's still a passing score. A student who struggles in school and earns all Cs and one Ds is going to have a GPA below 2.0 but still passed all his/her classes, and should rightfully have that high school diploma.
That student may not go on to college, but instead will enter the world of work, or possibly enter the military or trade school. It's much better for that worker to have a high school diploma than to be a dropout. Why is this bad?
Not everyone can be a top performer and it's unrealistic to think they can. A student who gets Ds and Cs in math and science but gets As in band, art, or PE can have a GPA above 2.0. Why is 2.0 some magical cutoff? It seems arbitrary; there's already a cutoff in place: Passing. In college, students have to have minimum of 2.0 in their major courses but can still get their degree with passing grades in electives or fillers. In high school, they should simply be required to have passed their classes and earned enough credits to graduate.
All children left behind
Portsmouth city leaders---DON'T CHANGE A THING!!! Maintain your higher grading standards, you are helping the students who graduate from your city schools much more than the other cities in the area. Rest assured that those students who are failing to make the grade now will most likely continue to fail under lower standards, but will have to do even less than before. It's true, lower grading standards will mean higher rates of graduation, and our kids may not be left behind in our school system, but what about when (and if) they get to college, or even just trying to get a job? Americans are stupid when compared to the academic achievements of other countries, and to allow the standard to lower will mean that more of our children will most definitely be "left behind" when compared to the intelligence and successes of children outside our country. Don't budge Portsmouth, stand firm against the change--make the children and parents work harder to meet your standard, don't lower it to make it easier on them!
Causing more harm to the Black Community
By proposing this change, the Portsmouth Public School System is essentially saying that black students cannot perform to the average standard. Therefore, they will lower the average standard to a new lower standard, hoping this may graduate more students. Whatever happened to accountability, hard work, and hard study habits? The black community should be in OUTRAGE that a school system would dumb down the standard so a particular ethnic group can increase its graduation percentage. Does the black community want the stigma that its present and future generations need to be treated to a lower standard when it comes to academics? Reading, writing, arithmetic, and science are not biased. Parents should push their children to excel and not blame anyone because their children cannot perform. It is time to stop placating to children and get back to the basics of education. Parents in the black community and yes, the white community, should not allow the school system or society tell them YOUR child is incapable of or unwilling to perform. It seems the school system wants to dumb the standard down so your child can graduate and have a greater chance of failure in life.
What are you rambling about?
What are you rambling about? I don't think Portsmouth should change but how does having the same grading as other districts make this a "black community" issue? Does that mean standards have already been lowered for whites?