The change won’t become visible for a few years because it affects this year’s ninth graders and all subsequent graduating classes.
This isn’t the first time the high school has tried to weight course grades to better reflect academic challenge and achievement. In 2009-2010, the school attempted to implement a new GPA system for the entire school, but they reversed course and dropped it because of the negative response from students and parents. The system didn’t include weighting A.P. classes; instead it awarded three tenths of a point more for an A-plus than an A. Some students called the change unfair, saying they would have put in extra effort to receive an A-plus if they had known it would have a greater weight. The school now treats an A and an A-plus the same when it comes to calculating GPA.
Other changes in grade weighting system could follow, as some students and parents push to make the system more accurate. Students who get an A for a Middlebury College course they take, for example, now boost their GPA by the same amount as a student who gets an A in one of the high school’s less-challenging classes. The same is true for students who take rigorous online classes through Virtual High School.
In both cases, the absence of weighting creates incentive for some grade conscientious students to avoid enrolling in challenging classes.
For the rest of the article, go to Change Will Give Greater Weight to AP Course Grades
