grading scale...which one to use

[ProudGrandma]

I looked online to find a scale for converting percentages to letter grades...and each one I look at is slightly different from all of the other ones. 

 

Which scale do you use?

 

And while I am asking...how do you convert percentages into a GPA?  The one site I looked at wanted letter grades before converting...

 

thanks.

 

 

[klmama]

Most schools in our area use 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, etc., so that's what we use. 

 

Convert grades into letters.  A = 4 points, B = 3 points, C = 2 points, D = 1 point.  If a class is only half a credit, it gets half the points; an A in a 1/2 credit class = 2 points, B in a 1/2 credit class = 1.5, etc.   Add up the points from the semester and divide by the total number of class credits. 

[theelfqueen]

The 10 point scale 90-100 = A 80-89 = B etc .... is by far the most common in schools. I use it.

[Julie of KY]

Same as above - 90-100=A at my home, etc.

[Haiku]

Given that most schools use 90-100 as an A, I think it's the wisest scale to use. You'd be putting your kid at a disadvantage if you gave them a B for a 92 while the kid next door gets an A for a 92.

[jjeepa]

Given that most schools use 90-100 as an A, I think it's the wisest scale to use. You'd be putting your kid at a disadvantage if you gave them a B for a 92 while the kid next door gets an A for a 92.

 

:iagree:

[MerryAtHope]

yes, we use 90-100 for an A too, and A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, etc...

[Mosaicmind]

Well, I guess I'm the weirdo. Here they use a scale very similar to what colleges use: 97-100/A+, 93-96/A....

 

Here is a good website to help:

 

http://www.collegeboard.com/html/academicTracker-howtoconvert.html

 

HTH

[KarenNC]

I'm doing 90-100 = A, with weighting of regular class A = 4 pts, honors class A = 4.5 pts, AP/DE class A = 5 pts.

[regentrude]

I use 90%=A, 80%=B etc.

 

It does not matter. The grading scale is completely meaningless without having the actual assignments. NOT worth spending any time worrying about.

 

 

[regentrude]

Given that most schools use 90-100 as an A, I think it's the wisest scale to use. You'd be putting your kid at a disadvantage if you gave them a B for a 92 while the kid next door gets an A for a 92.

 

The bolded would only make sense if you gave identical assignments and used and identical grading rubric.

The grading scale alone is utterly meaningless without knowing the assignments and rubric. I can give very easy exams and use a hard grading scale, and the student is at an advantage over a student who gets hard exams and an easy grading scale.

[Haiku]

The bolded would only make sense if you gave identical assignments and used and identical grading rubric.

The grading scale alone is utterly meaningless without knowing the assignments and rubric. I can give very easy exams and use a hard grading scale, and the student is at an advantage over a student who gets hard exams and an easy grading scale.

 

I was thinking of a scenario where two students have applied to the same college. If they have similar or the same test scores, but one's GPA is lower because she had to score higher to get an A, that could definitely have an impact on financial aid, at the very least. Two local universities have a tool on their website that shows how much merit aid a student will get based on the combination of GPA and ACT or SAT scores. If the student next door gets the same grades but has a higher GPA due to a different grading scale, that puts one of those students at a disadvantage.

[ProudGrandma]

but I suppose this type of advantage/disadvantage could happen in an other school too, right? Every school can use whatever scale, requirements, etc they basically (within reason), correct?  So maybe the ACT score would be weighted more with college entrances?  I am just guessing here.

[regentrude]

I was thinking of a scenario where two students have applied to the same college. If they have similar or the same test scores, but one's GPA is lower because she had to score higher to get an A, that could definitely have an impact on financial aid, at the very least.

 

But whether the student was actually disadvantaged depends also largely on the difficulty of the exam - not merely on the grading scale.

You have no idea of knowing whether the exams you give compare in difficulty to the exams the other student took - so worrying about the grading scale is pointless; one should worry at least as much about the level of exam. Since it is impossible to know how hard or easy any given school's exams are, the grading scale is a mote point.

Edited July 19, 2016 by regentrude

[Haiku]

But whether the student was actually disadvantaged depends also largely on the difficulty of the exam - not merely on the grading scale.

You have no idea of knowing whether the exams you give compare in difficulty to the exams the other student took - so worrying about the grading scale is pointless; one should worry at least as much about the level of exam. Since it is impossible to know how hard or easy any given school's exams are, the grading scale is a mote point.

 

I don't understand your point. If a college gives merit aid based on a combination of GPA and ACT/SAT test scores, and a student has a lower GPA because they got a B for a 92 when another student got an A for a 92, then they student with the lower GPA is disadvantaged.

 

The college doesn't know how relatively hard or easy a student's tests were whether they went to school or were homeschooled; they just know what the GPA was.

[RootAnn]

The local high school uses the 90+ is an A scale. The next one over, the one we'd send our kids to if they went, uses the same grading scale I use. So, even in a 30 mile radius, there is a difference in grading scale.

A+ 97-100 (4.0)

A   93-96 (4.0)

B+ 89-92 (3.5)

B   85-88 (3.0)

C+ 81-84 (2.5)

C   77-80 (2.0)

Etc.

 

I'm going to spell out my grading scale on my transcript. It'll be more difficult for my kid to get an A than someone else's that uses the 90+ = A, but colleges will know that.

[Mosaicmind]

Every high school my kids have gone to use the grade scale I mentioned above because most colleges use that scale. I don't think it matters what scale you use and adding it to your transcript helps.

[Mom22ns]

Well, I guess I'm the weirdo. Here they use a scale very similar to what colleges use: 97-100/A+, 93-96/A....

 

Here is a good website to help:

 

http://www.collegeboard.com/html/academicTracker-howtoconvert.html

 

HTH

 

I've never seen a college use a grading scale that uses an A+. The university I attended and the CC dd attended used a 90-80-70 A-B-C scale. Ds's university, the university dd will attend, and the local state U both do +/- within the 10 point scale, but no A+. The nursing program at dd's University does do a 7 point scale and told the students that it is typical in nursing programs.

 

For our homeschool we stuck to 90-80-70 no +/- because I thought that was what most colleges do. Our experience now actually has more using +/- than not using it, but either way 10 point scale. 

[Mom22ns]

I'm going to spell out my grading scale on my transcript. It'll be more difficult for my kid to get an A than someone else's that uses the 90+ = A, but colleges will know that.

 

Colleges may know, but they will not translate the grades to match everyone else's and it can effect scholarship opportunities.

[regentrude]

I don't understand your point. If a college gives merit aid based on a combination of GPA and ACT/SAT test scores, and a student has a lower GPA because they got a B for a 92 when another student got an A for a 92, then they student with the lower GPA is disadvantaged.

 

My point is that you are assuming they get the grade for the same performance.  The "92" is completely meaningless as well.

Easy test with an easy rubric - high percentage. Hard test with hard rubric - low percentage. The parent or school with high expectation puts her students already at a disadvantage compared to the parent of school with low expectations. 

By the logic of watching the GPA to not put student as a disadvantage, one can equally argue one should give only easy exams and have low standards to ensure the student has a high GPA.

[Haiku]

My point is that you are assuming they get the grade for the same performance.

 

No, I'm not. I'm simply looking at it from a "competing for college" perspective. Since the college can't know how rigorous everyone's coursework was, they use GPA and test scores to try to standardize their admittance and merit aid processes. I don't see any reason to give a student a 3.0 GPA for receiving all 92%s, for example, when Susie down the street got 92% in all her classes and got a 4.0. The university isn't going to delve into whether Student A or Susie had harder coursework and what their relative effort and performance were. They are going to look at the GPA and test scores and say one student has a higher GPA than another.

 

 

 

By the logic of watching the GPA to not put student as a disadvantage, one can equally argue one should give only easy exams and have low standards to ensure the student has a high GPA.

 

Not really, because if you have low standards, your student likely won't perform well on college entrance and supplemental (SAT II, etc) exams. I guess we just see this situation from different angles. I'm not talking about how rigorously your should teach your student or how high your expectations should be. You can both give your students hard tests/have high expectations AND award them an A instead of a B for a 92 percent.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Haiku

[Haiku]

By way of example, a local university states on their website that a student with a 4.0 GPA and a 28 on the ACT qualifies for $3500 in merit aid. If you drop that GPA to a 3.0, the student gets no merit aid. 

[Mosaicmind]

I've never seen a college use a grading scale that uses an A+. The university I attended and the CC dd attended used a 90-80-70 A-B-C scale. Ds's university, the university dd will attend, and the local state U both do +/- within the 10 point scale, but no A+. The nursing program at dd's University does do a 7 point scale and told the students that it is typical in nursing programs.

 

For our homeschool we stuck to 90-80-70 no +/- because I thought that was what most colleges do. Our experience now actually has more using +/- than not using it, but either way 10 point scale.

Purdue, Liberty U, Cedarville, UK, Boyce, and many others that I've gone to and my oldest have gone to do use this grading scale. When I started that most Colleges and high schools use this, I was only regurgitating what the College Board stated on their site. Our high schools here use this scale and so do the ones in IN around Purdue where we lived.