Students finishing up first-semester finals may have noticed a subtle but beneficial shift in the way grades are processed which took effect earlier in the semester. Softening grading cutoffs and making grades slightly more forgiving, the new system gives some students a necessary edge in order to bump up their grades. The new grading system is pictured below:
According to Vice Principal for Academics Ms. Kathleen Coughran, this change comes after discussion with La Salle’s Academic Council — a collection of department chairs and certain administrators.
“I think it was just one of those decisions that made sense with where we were in time,” Ms. Coughran said.
The round up only affects the letter grade assigned to a percentage, not the percent grade itself. This was another topic the Academic Council discussed — where the grade round up would start. “We chose the tenth spot just because we found that the most reasonable,” she said. “A 92.4 is an A minus, a 92.5 is an A … a 92.46 is an A minus.”
Before this system was enacted, some teachers rounded up grades at their own discretion, which caused inconsistencies across different classes.
“Grading is such a difficult endeavor for teachers, and as much as we want it to be as objective as possible, there’s always some subjectivity to it,” Ms. Coughran said. “The roundup takes care of human error or any biases sometimes that play into a grading process.”
The system also ensures alignment across classes, and having a consistent policy can give students some peace of mind regarding the grade expectation
“I appreciate that the policy is now uniform, so all of the teachers are on the same page, which I think is beneficial for students’ expectations,” English teacher Ms. Anna Hooker said.
According to math teacher Ms. Rose Adkisson, however, the grading system can make it more difficult for her to apply curves to tests and quizzes, since a small cushion is already in place for the final grade book.
In addition, Ms. Adkisson believes that this new system has the possibility to increase stress levels for certain students.
“I think for some students it benefits,” Ms. Adkisson said. “For some students though, I think it can definitely amp up the anxiety.” For example, students that are just below the bump can get more upset, when in reality they’re just 0.6 points below the standard grade increment.
Junior Declan O’Brien approves of the grade roundup, since it decreases the difference in grading across classes and gives the teachers one less thing to think about.
“Some teachers would do it and some teachers wouldn’t do it, so it just makes sense for all the teachers to have it,” he said. “Then they don’t have to worry about extra things because they’re already doing too much.”
O’Brien also acknowledged that the change doesn’t mean students can slack off, and they should still be striving for an A. “You have to have the mindset to get the 93, but if you’re that close, you might as well just have the 93 if you have a 92.5,” he said.
In contrast, junior Adina Dominitz has mixed feelings about the roundup.
“I think it is very beneficial because it allows a little bit less stress on students and also gives a hard line for teachers,” she said. “But also it doesn’t fully feel like what I earned.”
Though the roundup has not had direct impacts on her, she has heard good things about it from friends.
“Now [grading] has more structure, which I think is better,” she said.
Religion teacher Mr. Marcantuono said his goal for his classes is to “never let a grade come in front of students’ learning.”
“I’m pro-generosity to students — students work hard and they deserve some grace,” he said.
Regardless of students’ and teachers’ varied perspectives, a 92.5% is now an A — the grade rounding is here to stay.
