 | Cierra King is a Senior at Northwest High School. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Newspaper staff, and the varsity track and field team. Outside of school King is involved in her church youth group, and participates with Fashionetta. After graduating King plans to attend the University of Kansas, and major in journalism and mass communications. After graduating the University of Kansas, she wants to become a magazine editor for Teen People magazine. |
Teens' Forum
2006-04-01 14:06:00
Does ‘weighted grading’ really make a difference?
ANSWER: It is shown by the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented that the lack of consistency from school to school as to what courses are weighted and how much they are to be weighted is the number one disadvantage of the weighted grade system. Another disadvantage includes the way the weighted grade appears on the transcript. Some school districts add an extra point value for advanced placement classes and honors classes, while some districts focus on advanced placements classes only. The way the weighted grade system is not organized and gives more disadvantages to the system than advantages. Before 2000, there was a worldwide scare of Y2K, which would destroy all of the computer systems. As a result USD 259 purchased their computer grading system from Canada just in case Y2K would be a huge crisis.“The computer systems from Canada are not organized for weighted grading. If the district were to add weighted grading, it would all have to be hand processed. That is a huge task when it comes to 1,600 students at Northwest High School,” said Lisa Adams, senior counselor at Northwest said.This being a major deficit from weighting grading in the district, there is also the enrollment in elective courses. Will the weighted grading affect those courses, and what about the average student who takes the average classes, how will the weighted grades affect them? DECA, OFACS, and BPA, are all elective classes that are used to teach students how to create a business, advertise, and use entrepreneurship. Journalism and newspaper electives are made for prospective students, who are interested in journalism as a career. Having the weighted grades could lower the self-esteem of students at the lower academic level, because they would not have equal opportunities to take a more challenging academic program. “We would see students take more rigorous courses. The average student is not going to change the classes they are taking, so it will not affect them,” Adams said.Many see advantages to weighted grading such as the higher GPA scale and a better placement in class ranks, but those are all misconceptions. “Some kids think that weighted grades will give them a better chance to be accepted to prestigious colleges. The board of regents scholarships does not want the GPA weighted,” Adams said.Colleges do not look at the weighted grade. If a transcript comes in weighted then school will bring the GPA to where it is not weighted. Colleges pay more attention to the type of college prepatory courses a student took over his high school academic career, and the ACT scores. Another misconception with the weighed grades is class valedictorians.“Fear of some students that get valedictorian are students that took food classes and other electives, but in the past, valedictorians have taken Advanced Placement classes and honors classes,” Adams said. Weighted grades are beneficial in many different ways. For students that have a heavier workload in honor and AP classes, they will be earning extra for what they have already worked for. Weighted grades give students more encouragement academically, because of the increasing in the grade point average. It also allows students a chance for success in obtaining college scholarships.The issue of weighted grades has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is clear that there are more disadvantages. Weighted grading is a tedious task, and is only effective in high school, because colleges do not care for it. The district does not have the system for weighted grades, and it would be a useless task to do everything by hand. When the district purchases the grading system for weighted grades, and it does not involve so much inconsistency, then there will be an issue to discuss, until then there is nothing to be discussed.
