Post by title1parent on Apr 20, 2009 21:26:07 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1534989,Batavia-HS-weighted-grades_AU042009.article
Batavia rejects revival of weighted grades
April 20, 2009
By DENISE LINKE For The Beacon News
BATAVIA — The School District will not be bringing back weighted grades to Batavia High School, despite the enrollment boom in honors and Advanced Placement classes.
"We need to move our culture into learning for the sake of learning and not who's got the best GPA and rank in the class," School Board member Jack Hinterlong said in recent discussion of the weighted grades issue.
In November 2001, the School Board voted to phase out weighted grades beginning with the freshman class of 2007, which entered Batavia High School in the fall of 2003. That decision grew from discussions about expanding the school's honors and AP class offerings.
While some parents urged officials to add more AP classes, others protested that giving advanced students more chances to earn weighted grades would skew GPAs and class ranks against students taking mainstream classes and hurt their chances of being accepted into colleges.
Since 2003, Batavia High School has added five honors classes and three AP classes, and enrollment in the honors program has increased by 17 percent each of the last three years, said Associate Superintendent Jan Wright.
"Obviously, not getting weighted grades is not discouraging kids from signing up for these classes," Wright observed.
School Board President Ron Link said weighting grades prompts students to load up their schedules with honors classes to bolster their grade point averages, when they should be choosing classes to achieve academic balance and explore their interests.
"If you get weighted grades, school becomes more about how you can boost your class rank rather than what's best for you as a student," he said.
"Kids need to make decisions (about their class schedules) for the right reasons. Playing the numbers is not the right reason," added board member Kathleen Roberts.
"Kids get accepted to colleges for reasons other than GPA. You can have a terrible GPA and if you have a killer application essay and you've taken rigorous courses in high school, you will do well."
District staff drew up a set of options that would let the district reinstate weighted grades. There would be a cap on the number of honors classes that would be weighted to limit the impact on GPAs and class ranks. But board members chose to leave honors class grades unweighted.
"I was on the board when we voted to stop weighted grades," noted board member Kristin Behmer. "I think it was the right decision then. I don't want to go back now."
Batavia rejects revival of weighted grades
April 20, 2009
By DENISE LINKE For The Beacon News
BATAVIA — The School District will not be bringing back weighted grades to Batavia High School, despite the enrollment boom in honors and Advanced Placement classes.
"We need to move our culture into learning for the sake of learning and not who's got the best GPA and rank in the class," School Board member Jack Hinterlong said in recent discussion of the weighted grades issue.
In November 2001, the School Board voted to phase out weighted grades beginning with the freshman class of 2007, which entered Batavia High School in the fall of 2003. That decision grew from discussions about expanding the school's honors and AP class offerings.
While some parents urged officials to add more AP classes, others protested that giving advanced students more chances to earn weighted grades would skew GPAs and class ranks against students taking mainstream classes and hurt their chances of being accepted into colleges.
Since 2003, Batavia High School has added five honors classes and three AP classes, and enrollment in the honors program has increased by 17 percent each of the last three years, said Associate Superintendent Jan Wright.
"Obviously, not getting weighted grades is not discouraging kids from signing up for these classes," Wright observed.
School Board President Ron Link said weighting grades prompts students to load up their schedules with honors classes to bolster their grade point averages, when they should be choosing classes to achieve academic balance and explore their interests.
"If you get weighted grades, school becomes more about how you can boost your class rank rather than what's best for you as a student," he said.
"Kids need to make decisions (about their class schedules) for the right reasons. Playing the numbers is not the right reason," added board member Kathleen Roberts.
"Kids get accepted to colleges for reasons other than GPA. You can have a terrible GPA and if you have a killer application essay and you've taken rigorous courses in high school, you will do well."
District staff drew up a set of options that would let the district reinstate weighted grades. There would be a cap on the number of honors classes that would be weighted to limit the impact on GPAs and class ranks. But board members chose to leave honors class grades unweighted.
"I was on the board when we voted to stop weighted grades," noted board member Kristin Behmer. "I think it was the right decision then. I don't want to go back now."
