Occasional Paper No. 35
Gail C. Downs, M.S.
Center for Research and Evaluation
College of Education & Human Development
University of Maine
5766 Shibles Hall
Orono, ME
June 2000
The
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A
Member of the University of Maine System
Weighted
Grades: A Conundrum for Secondary Schools
Introduction
Maine high schools, as well as secondary schools throughout the nation,
have been grappling with the issue of how best to assign grades. Developing an
appropriate grading system has become paramount in Maine since the University of
Maine instituted a program that makes a full tuition scholarship available to
the two highest ranked students in their senior classes. The scholarship is
awarded to students who enroll at the Orono Campus following graduation from
high school. If the recipient
maintains a 3.0 grade point average, the award continues for four years,
providing a substantial financial benefit.
These
high stakes have Maine college-bound students searching for strategies that will
give them the highest rank in class possible. School administrators are being
pressured to assign "weighted" values to more rigorous classes so that
students enrolled in these classes would earn more quality points toward their
grade point averages than students enrolled in average classes. School
administrators, parents, teachers, and students are struggling to develop fair
and equitable grading systems for their districts. However, what is fair and
equitable?
Overview
About
half the school systems in the country are currently assigning weighted grades
and the number is increasing (Manzo, 1998). When computing a student's grade
point average (GPA), different school systems may assign from four to eight
points for an earned "A" in a comparable Advanced Placement (AP)
English class. Furthermore, schools that do weight other types of courses
(besides AP courses) assign inconsistent labels such as honors, advanced,
college prep, accelerated, Level IV, etc. (Cognard, 1996). These discrepancies
demonstrate the need for adopting a national standard for schools that elect to
weight grades. Advantages and Disadvantages
School
systems that responded to questionnaires sent out by the National Research
Center on the Gifted and Talented listed both positive and negative aspects
regarding weighted grades. The
advantages cited include the following: more
students taking rigorous classes, top students who graduate at the highest rank
in class (RIC) are taking the most demanding classes in school, better student
self-esteem, higher acceptance rates into colleges and universities, and the
opportunity for students to improve their GPA and to win college scholarships.
The disadvantages centered on the tracking of students, greater stress among
students, students at the lower end of the academic spectrum being left out, and
greater parental pressure to take weighted classes (Cognard, 1996).
In order to illustrate how weighted grades can make a significant
difference in a student's RIC (rank in class), one school district recalculated
the non-weighted grades to weighted grades for the top 25 students in three
schools. At one school, the student ranked number 11 in a non-weighted system
became number 1 in a weighted system. This
student had taken ten AP courses resulting in a 3.850 GPA on a 4.0 system. His
weighted GPA was 4.224 on a 4.0 system. Similar differences occurred at the
other two schools where one student changed RIC position from 18 to 8, and at
the third school the student ranked number 16 moved up to 7.
These significant changes in RIC could influence admissions and
scholarship decisions (Lockhart, 1990). Weighting strategies and
systems: One school's two-year efforts to develop a weighted-grade system Ashenfelter
(1990) described one Illinois school's two-year efforts to develop a fair and
equitable weighted-grade system. Before the project got underway, grades in most
courses counted equally when
Other strategies and systems •
a larger shift in RIC with windows than without for 85% of the students,
•
a student with consistently high grades could be passed in class rank by
a student with several Cs and Ds, •
students windowed out more academic than nonacademic courses, •
37% of the courses windowed out were algebra I, geometry, Spanish I and
biology, •
colleges questioned the high percent of courses excluded from the GPA,
and •
most students selected courses on the basis of college subject pattern
requirements. Based
on these results and input from colleges, the district limited the kinds of
courses that could be windowed. The
weighted GPA would be calculated on all courses in English, foreign language,
mathematics, science, social studies, and all AP courses regardless of
department. An adequate number of other courses would be included to meet
minimums for each semester. Although
both weighted and non-weighted GPAs would be included on the student's
transcript, only a weighted RIC would appear.
High school transcripts submitted to colleges and universities with
prospective student applications are often the documents that determine which
students are selected and which are offered scholarships. Hence, it is important
to know how institutions of higher learning view transcripts. Information from
university and college admissions offices indicate: (1) A student's GPA, RIC, and the strength of the high school program weigh
more heavily in the selection process than do SAT scores and extracurricular
activities. (2) Weighted grades are more important if the college is unfamiliar with the
applicant's school. (3)
Even if an applicant's transcript shows honors and AP courses but the
grades are not weighted, the majority of colleges/universities will not assign
extra points. (4)
In general, the majority of highly competitive colleges/universities
indicate that students with weighted grades have an advantage (Cognard, 1996;
Lockhart, 1990). Talley
and Mohr (1993) reported that 74% of surveyed private college admission
directors said that students with weighted grades on their transcripts have no
advantage over students whose transcripts do not include weighted grades.
However, a comparison of students with the same basic transcript show that the
student with weighted grades was chosen over the student with non-weighted
grades 76% of the time. Responses from 559 college admission directors from
private and public four-year undergraduate institutions express their
preferences regarding grade weighting: •
33% prefer non-weighted grades •
27% prefer quality points added to honors and AP courses •
22% prefer specific point values for different levels of courses •
15% prefer that honors and AP courses be multiplied by a specific factor •
3% had no preference Of the 74%
that reported using students' GPAs in computing freshman profiles, 47.5%
reported using weighted grades in the computation while 48.1% used non-weighted
grades; 4.4% use both. Legal implications
Both the University of California and California State University systems
add one point to non-weighted honors and AP courses when calculating the GPA for
applicants. The median GPA for students admitted to UCLA and UC Berkeley is over
4.0 - a score impossible for students to attain if their schools have no honors
or AP courses. Students with little access to AP courses are competing for
admission against students whose GPAs are increased because of weighted grades;
these students are clearly at a disadvantage. Summary
School systems developing a weighted-grade plan should consider how best
to award grades that encourage learning and equity as well as how best to
increase students' opportunities for college admission and scholarships.
Weighted grades encourage students to enroll in rigorous courses while often
discouraging them from enrolling in courses of interest that would enrich their
lives. Instruction becomes less differentiated for all students when the number
of course offerings decreases due to lack of enrollment in less academically
focused courses, courses unlikely to provide weighted quality points.
Although many college admissions directors state that students with
weighted grades on their transcripts do not have an advantage, admission results
refute this claim. College admissions offices frequently do not assign added
value for honors and AP courses on transcripts that report only non-weighted
grades, placing those applicants at a disadvantage for admission and
scholarships. Because a student's GPA, RIC, and high school program are valued
more highly than SAT scores and extracurricular activities in the admissions
selection process, weighted grades ultimately have a large impact on students'
academic futures. References
Ashenfelter, J.W. (1990). Our schools grappled with grade-point politics
and lost. Executive Educator, 12 (1), 21-23.
Cognard,
A.M. (1996). The case for weighting grades and waiving classes for gifted and
talented high school students. (Report No. RM96226). Storrs, CT: National
Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED 429 390) Hill,
D. (2000, March). Test case [On-line].
Available: http://www.edweek.org/tm/tmstory.cfm?slug=06civil.h11&keywords=weighted%20grades
Lockhart, E. (1990). Heavy
grades. The Journal of College Admission, 126, 9-16
Manzo,
K.K. (1998, June 17). Weighted grades pose dilemmas in some schools
[On-line]. Available: http://www.edweek.org/ew/1998/40gpa.h17
Meade, J. (1991, January). Breaking ranks [On-line]. Available: http://www.edweek.org/tm/1991/4shop3.h02
Mitchell, B.M. (1994). Weighted grades. Gifted Child Today (GCT), 17
(4), 28-29.
Siegel, J. & Anderson, C.S. (1991). Considerations in calculating
high school GPA and rank-in-class. NASSP Bulletin, 75 (537), 96-109.
Talley,
N.R & Mohr, J.I. (1993). The
case for a national standard of grade weighting.
The Journal of College Admission, 139, 9-13.
Schools
in twelve Maryland counties that use some form of grade weighting listed what
they felt were the advantages and disadvantages. Their comments were compiled in
a report by Lockhart (1990) and are presented in Table 1.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ensures top ranking
in class for advanced students.
Lowers class
ranking for other than advanced students.
Encourages top
students to take rigorous classes.
Limits course
selections of college-bound students.
Increases grade
point average.
May encourage
students to attempt course work beyond their ability level.
Helps advanced
students be more competitive during the college admission process.
Weakens the integrity
of the grade.
Increases advanced
students' chances for success in obtaining scholarships.
Suggests to students
who are not in courses carrying weighted grades that their work is
less important.
Allows teachers
to give a greater range of grades.
Instruction becomes
less differentiated in advanced as well as in grade level classes.
Highlights academic
achievement.
Could lower student
motivation to attain good grades in courses where grades are weighted.
Admissions
directors at most colleges cite GPA and RIC as important indicators of success.
Directors at two highly selective universities report that the weighting of
grades can make a difference in admission (Lockhart, 1993).
In addition, scholarships may be awarded on the basis of weighted GPA and
RIC.
In the process of developing a weighted grade system, the
school added one point to AP classes so that an A now was worth six points and a
B in an AP class had the same point value (five) as an A in a regular class.
Even with this new system a student's GPA could suffer if the student
enrolled in extra courses. Compare
the GPA of one "all-A" student who enrolled in four five-point courses
and one six-point course (GPA = 5.20) with another "all-A" student who
enrolled in five five-point courses and one six-point course (GPA = 5.17). The
student who enrolled in an extra course was penalized with a lower GPA, a factor
that discouraged student learning. To
compensate, the system was amended to add one-half honor point for each course
taken beyond the four-course minimum in any semester.
Using this new method to re-compute the GPA for the two students above,
we find that the GPA for the student taking five courses is increased to 5.40,
while the GPA for the student taking six courses is increased to 5.50.
Board
members then became concerned that departments with few or no AP classes would
experience declining enrollments if students selected courses based on the
possibility of earning a six-point A.
A recommendation was made to award 5.5 points for an A earned in honors
classes and to encourage departments to petition to designate additional courses
as honors courses. Furthermore, the board recommended that an A in a low-level
class be devalued from the standard 5-point A to a 4.5-point A.
At
the end of two years, a new system was adopted with the following standards:
Students were required to take six classes every semester.
Physical education did not bear credit but health did.
An extra half-point could be earned by taking a seventh class.
It was decided that grades would be weighted in the following manner:
4.5-point A in basic and special education classes, 5-point A in regular
classes, 5.5-point A in honors classes, and 6-point A in AP classes.
Both a weighted and non-weighted GPA would be computed on transcripts
submitted for college admission.
A 1983 National Association of Secondary School Principals study reported
that 73% of schools used "all" courses in computing GPA; the most
frequent course exception being physical education. The study recommended that
grades should be weighted if the procedure provides a more truthful
representation of students' academic accomplishments and a better prediction of
subsequent academic performance in college. A caution was attached to the
recommendation that weighted grades and the resulting RIC may not be an
appropriate basis for school awards and distinctions.
A "Windows" system described by Siegel and Anderson (1991)
allowed students to "window out" selected courses from their weighted
GPA calculation. Under this system an A could earn from 4 to 8 points depending
on the difficulty of the course, and the student could limit the courses figured
into his/her GPA calculation. Based
on two semesters per year for four years, a student's GPA calculation would be
limited to the best 22 credits in the fifth semester, best 25 in the sixth
semester, best 29 in the seventh semester, and best 32 in the eighth semester.
The final best 32 courses must include eight English credits, six social
studies credits, four science credits, and four mathematics credits; the student
could then select any other ten course credits for inclusion into the GPA
calculation. The purpose of this system was to encourage students to enroll in
lower weighted courses in which they had an interest without adversely affecting
their final GPA.
The results of transcript analyses showed:
In
another system, a rural New York school encouraged high ability students to
follow a more rigorous academic curriculum by making a "hard B" carry
more weight than a "soft A." The
faculty established a weighted grade index that gave more weight to some classes
than others. An elective with no
homework and no academic requirements counted for two points, while a course
that required research or college-level work counted for five points.
To determine RIC a student with a B in a rigorous course would get a
grade multiplied by a higher factor than a student who earned a B in a "no
homework/no academic requirements" course.
In addition, the teachers established an honors credit program by
allowing a college bound student to design a yearlong special project in his/her
own major interest area. If the
project were approved, the student would be required to report every two weeks
to an adviser and complete objectives in a timely manner in order to earn points
toward a higher class ranking (Mead, 1991).
Inglewood High, a California school that enrolls approximately 2000
students, most of whom are either Latino or African American, until recently
offered just three AP courses. About
10 miles away, Beverly Hills High School offered more than a dozen AP courses.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Southern California chapter filed suit
in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that the Inglewood Unified School
District, the state of California, the state board of education, and the state
superintendent of public instruction are denying students equal and adequate
access to AP courses. An attorney for the ACLU claims these students should not
be denied the ability to compete equally for admission to California's elite
universities (Hill, 2000). The charge, "denying students equal and adequate
access to AP courses" can be interpreted to mean "denying students
equal opportunity for college admission and for scholarships." Is the real
issue AP courses or is it weighted grades?
Finally, school systems should consider the possible legal ramifications
of denying students equal and
adequate access to courses that enable college applicants to be competitive for
admission and scholarships. Although
the current legal issue is one of course availability, the courses in question
are classes that most often are assigned weighted grades.
In conclusion, school systems have the option of developing a weighted
grading system to achieve educational goals and objectives. A school system that
adopts weighted grades is not required to consider weighted grades under all
circumstances, but can employ non-weighted grades when distributing
school
awards and distinctions or when deemed appropriate. There are no rules or
consistent guidelines for weighting grades, yet college applicants with weighted
grades on their transcripts have a clear advantage for admission and
scholarships at many colleges and universities. Therefore, this issue should be
given significant consideration when implementing a specific policy.
