HS students: what's a 'C' on your grade scale?

[Mikey2788]

My high school is the similar to sisters in terms of grading, and my School is in the middle of no where: Thorndike Maine. Never heard of the the city of Thorndike before? well its because its a cow-farm town, not a city. My school has less than 600 students, and there are only 15 desktop computers in the library and they never work. but never the less this is how our grading system is

92-100 | A

84-91 | B

77-83 | C

70-76 |D

0-69 |F

 

[calvinuk]

In England (Where the A-level grades are standardised across the whole of the country) it goes like this:

80-100% A
70-79% B
60-69% C
50-59% D
40-49% E
40> Ungraded.

Around 25% of A-level grades are given as an A.

 

[Jack21222]

Was there a need to bump a 4 year old topic?

 

[pjfoster]

At my old high school (Catholic, Private school in Iowa) the scale was...

93-100 = A
85-92 = B
77-84 = C
70-76 = D
<70 = F

 

[physics girl phd]

At my high school we went A-100-93 B-85-92 C-78-84 D-70-77 F-69 and below.

This scale seems like the same one that was used when I was in public HS (in Ohio).

 

[jtbell]

That's what it was when I was in high school, also in Ohio, about forty years ago. I don't know if it was a statewide system, or simply one that happened to be popular.

Right now, Ohio does not have a common statewide grading scale, according to a blog written by a state Board of Education member:

http://www.stateofohioeducation.com/2008/09/gpa-and-grading-scales-local-or-state.html

But Texas and South Carolina, for example, do have standard grading scales.

As I said before in this thread (four years ago! egad!), I see no reason to obsess about grading scales when the instructor writes the tests, assigns partial credit, etc. The instructor can simply "grade to the scale" or "design to the scale," whether consciously or unconsciously.

 

[Wellesley]

At my old high school (Catholic, Private school in Iowa) the scale was...

93-100 = A
85-92 = B
77-84 = C
70-76 = D
<70 = F

Same here (Catholic, Private, Michigan), except this is for the Honors and AP Classes. All the other classes have A = 90-100, B=80-90, etc.

As I said before in this thread (four years ago! egad!), I see no reason to obsess about grading scales when the instructor writes the tests, assigns partial credit, etc. The instructor can simply "grade to the scale" or "design to the scale," whether consciously or unconsciously.

Oh how I wish this were true! At my high school, especially in the AP classes, there are no curves on tests, or extra credit...and the tests are not easy.

 

[jtbell]

At my high school, especially in the AP classes, there are no curves on tests, or extra credit...and the tests are not easy.

But who writes the tests (and picks the questions)? Are they true/false or multiple choice where credit for a question is all or nothing, or are they the kind of question where you can get partial credit based on your work? My point is that someone who's taught a subject for a while, to similar groups of students, can adjust the difficulty and/or grading of tests to get a grade distribution that reflects his "gut feelings" about how well students should perform.

It's been a long time since I was in high school, and I don't remember much about the tests I took then. Certainly for essays and essay-type questions in non-science courses there was partial credit. But I don't remember what my chemistry and physics tests were like. AP courses didn't exist back then, at least not at my high school, but I was in an "accelerated" track and was able to take two years of both chemistry and physics, and a year of calculus.

 

[Wellesley]

But who writes the tests (and picks the questions)? Are they true/false or multiple choice where credit for a question is all or nothing, or are they the kind of question where you can get partial credit based on your work? My point is that someone who's taught a subject for a while, to similar groups of students, can adjust the difficulty and/or grading of tests to get a grade distribution that reflects his "gut feelings" about how well students should perform.

It's been a long time since I was in high school, and I don't remember much about the tests I took then. Certainly for essays and essay-type questions in non-science courses there was partial credit. But I don't remember what my chemistry and physics tests were like. AP courses didn't exist back then, at least not at my high school, but I was in an "accelerated" track and was able to take two years of both chemistry and physics, and a year of calculus.

To use AP Calculus as an example...the tests were mainly free response, with partial credit given according to the guidelines the College Board uses to grade the AP exams.

With regards to the grading scale, you are correct, the teachers do have the opportunity to adjust the tests, and the grades. In my case, the teacher didn't...

 

[moo5003]

US, California (% to grade) - Public School in LA
93-100 = A (4.0)
90-93 = A- (3.7)
87-90 = B+ (3.3)
83-87 = B (3.0)
80-83 = B- (2.7)
77-80 = C+ (2.3)
73-77 = C (2.0)
70-73 = C- (1.7)
60-70 = D (1.0)
<60 = F (0)

Then each teacher had their own ability to shift the grades as they wanted (curve etc etc etc).

 

[Bourbaki1123]

Mine were as follows:

93-100 = A
85-92 = B
77-84 = C
70-76 = D
0-69 =F

Standard 7 point grading scale. I was relieved when I got to college and found out how much slack you get.

 

[jgg]

(Highschool)
A - (95 - 100)
B - (88 - 94)
C - (76 - 87)
D - (70 - 75)
F - (69 and below)

EDIT: Public school.

 

[Wellesley]

(Highschool)
A - (95 - 100)
B - (88 - 94)
C - (76 - 87)
D - (70 - 75)
F - (69 and below)

EDIT: Public school.

Yikes. Do your teachers curve the tests? How about the GPA?

 

[jgg]

Yikes. Do your teachers curve the tests? How about the GPA?

Tests are sometimes curved; not usually. GPA is not curved. The only "help" we get is with AP/honors classes; you get a slight grade multiplier at the end of the semester. I look at it this way: when I go to college and 'only' get a 91, I won't be disappointed.

Second thought: we're also not allowed to have a GPA above a 4.0. So if you do what I did and forget to turn something in and get a 94 in biology, you can never bring your GPA back up above a 4.0. But most colleges ask for the GPA out of a 4.0 scale, so I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[fluidistic]

Here in Argentina we deal with a decimal scale. Curiously in Physics II (thermodynamics) we are evaluated by A-B-C-D letters. C is a fail as D.
They don't curve any test nor exam even if 75% of the class fail on the final exam and must retake it a year later, or 6 months later. By the time students can delay in their path and graduate in more than 5 years for the bachelor's degree. The good side of this system is that it let pass only the students that really know the material. A 4/10 is a success but corresponds roughly to do well 60% of the exam.
So to answer this thread, a C is around 40-59% and is a fail.

 

[Wellesley]

Second thought: we're also not allowed to have a GPA above a 4.0. So if you do what I did and forget to turn something in and get a 94 in biology, you can never bring your GPA back up above a 4.0. But most colleges ask for the GPA out of a 4.0 scale, so I guess it doesn't matter.

So you can have over a 4.0, but only the first time? If you take an AP/honors class and get an A (with an initial GPA of 3.9), you can't get over a 4.0?

 

[jgg]

So you can have over a 4.0, but only the first time? If you take an AP/honors class and get an A (with an initial GPA of 3.9), you can't get over a 4.0?

Right. You can never correct that; once you get a B or lower, you can a 117 in every class after that, but they cut the grades off at 100 so you'll get a 3.989 but will never get a 4.0.

 

[screw.jack]

Yes, it's just a percentage. 90 = 90% correct

Dracovich, I agree with you - there should be a universal system, but I don't know if there is any hope of ever having an international standard for grading if the U.S. scales aren't even consistent among public schools in the same state!

That's why the SAT scores are way more important than the gpa in an application to universities.

 

[screw.jack]

Yes, it's just a percentage. 90 = 90% correct

Dracovich, I agree with you - there should be a universal system, but I don't know if there is any hope of ever having an international standard for grading if the U.S. scales aren't even consistent among public schools in the same state!

Plus, even if there was a universal system, it would be useless as you can't just compare the grades of two people from two different schools.