As this district continues to conduct years-long unending Standards Based Grading (SBG) forums, I am left with the unmistakable understanding that this district will not implement what I believe I have proven to be the more accurate and beneficial plus-minus/tenth-point standards grading system for our children/students (please see my previous Mirror articles).
Parents, please know and understand the absurdity of the current grading system. Per the district’s own ABCF/1234 grading system, a student could score 20 threes (equals a B) and one two, for 21 different standards, and yes, unbelievably that single two causes that student’s grade to be a C (2.95 avg.), thus a 2.0 GPA rather than a 3.0 GPA for a B; or 2.7 GPA for a B-; or, 2.3 GPA for a C+! Is this accuracy? Simply, ridiculous.
Furthermore, maybe the district should define for parents specifically what SBG changes are acceptable prior to conducting any further SBG forums so participants do not waste their time with unrealistic expectations as to what changes are possible.
That said, my belief is that this district is inextricably vested in ABCF/1234 grading because to make any changes would be excessively time consuming and monetarily cost prohibitive. Thus, the district must argue this is the best grading system for our children even though a plus-minus/tenth-point system can provide greater grade accuracy and higher GPAs/grades. Please note, there are important reasons that can be found on the web that argue credibly why the highest GPAs/grades are necessary such as for academic scholarships, sports scholarships, loans, etc. Also, who believes lower GPAs/grades are as well-regarded as higher GPAs/grades? How have lower GPAs/grades ever benefitted students? And, students with high GPA/grades never have to make excuses for why they have high GPAs/grades.
Also, and most importantly, parents know that if this district is wrong about not needing the highest GPAs and highest grades possible for even just one of the over 2,000 public/private universities/colleges or for just one of the multitudes of academic scholarships, sports scholarships, student loans, etc., then our children are the ones who will suffer the consequences.
Additionally, I also believe the district’s argument for using fewer grade categories (ABCF) gives the false perception that students with the same grades are meeting an outcome of equal ability. However, the curtain on this false perception was lifted when we saw SBA scores that showed 66 percent of students failed math and 54 percent failed English.
Finally, with the magnitude of Federal Way students failing the SBA math and English exams, maybe GPAs/grades really don’t mean that much; and, maybe in Federal Way, GPAs/grades are even meaningless.
Frank Comito
Federal Way
