As online learning continues globally, students have considered asking their teachers to change the grading system to accommodate the challenges that come with online learning. According to an article from the Denver Channel, a new grading scale has been discussed. This change would shift the percentages to get certain letter grades in an attempt to keep students from failing. In the new system letter grades would be calculated like this: A-88%-100%, B-76%-87%, C-64%-75%, D-52%-63%, and F less than 52% instead of the traditional grading system. Two students discuss the pros and cons of this potential change, and the likely effects it might have.
Pros side presented by Kate Lurie
Cons side presented by Brenna Regan
Amidst a pandemic, this change in the grading scale would keep more students from failing. Online and/or hybrid learning brings a lot of difficulties with it. Students might not feel comfortable asking for help and, oftentimes, it’s just harder to concentrate while staring at a computer screen for 8 hours. Having a slight boost in favor of struggling students can help them get the grades they normally would. From a teacher’s perspective, this boost can help more students pass and increase their incentive to work, which should be what every teacher wants.
Changing the grading system would add more stress on teachers because they’d be forced to calculate grades two different ways. Not to mention, the transition from hybrid to online learning is based on constantly changing external factors, this currently makes teaching extremely difficult. Adding a different grading scale on top of everything else would double a teacher’s workload because they’d have to prepare a separate grading scale and teaching plans for an all online week.
Many students cite that the “curve” reflects the kind of student they were pre-pandemic. This means that a normal A’s and B’s student might be getting C’s and D’s currently, so a scale change would represent the student they really are.
The flexibility of grades could result in students getting away with laziness on assignments. The chances of getting an A or B letter grade for C or D level effort would increase, this could allow haphazard work to receive a higher grade.
Additionally, this change can relieve lots of stress in a time with many people battling mental health. Your body and mind is trying to process a pandemic, the least education systems can do is relieve stress. This can lead to balancing out the struggle that students face during a pandemic with a reward.
A separate online grading scale could potentially offset an even playing field. Higher achieving students wouldn’t be as high achieving with a change in grading. Honor students in particular would struggle because the weights of their classes could change due to grading flexibility and curve on online assignments. Changing the grading scale could also result in more homework because assignments are worth less forcing teachers to double up.
Now, one could argue that this decreases the margins of success for students that are already striving, but this change isn’t for those students. It’s for the ones that need the help to pass a class, to graduate, go to college. This small benefit helps more students that would suffer under any circumstance get into college or trade school. This grade change is small, but it wouldn’t affect identifying status factors like ranking or GPA. It’s just a small benefit to help students that are watching their grades drop, despite being a good student, during one of the most difficult times of our lives.
A new grading scale would be difficult to revert back from because students will rely on the new scale for all assignments. This is an issue because students tend to get more instruction during all online school because they are not forced to teach themselves topics for certain classes like they are with hybrid. Overall causing more stress because grades would depend on the assignments during hybrid due to the weight of the traditional grading system.
