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At the March 20 board meeting, staff was asked to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of moving from a 7-point to a 10 -point grading scale. Possible advantages mentioned were consistency with colleges that already use a 10-point scale, giving students an advantage in applying for scholarships based on GPA (a 10-point scale would enable more students to earn higher GPA points), and enabling more marginal students to pass courses with a C or D rather than an F.
The North Carolina Board of Education policy HSP-L-004, outlining standards to be incorporated into the electronically generated high school transcript, mandates that North Carolina high schools use a 7-point grading scale. This policy was revised February 5, 2004 as part of a state board initiative to standardize weighting of courses. All North Carolina districts and high schools are required to use this 7-point scale under state board policy. Any change in the 7-point grading scale would have to be through revision of this state policy.
The only option for local districts under this policy is to use letter grades without pluses or minuses, letter grades with pluses or minuses, or percentage grades. However, regardless of the reporting option, the conversion of grades to quality points for calculating GPA is standardized at the state level.
Winston-Salem-Forsyth, Wake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Chapel Hill reported that concerns about the 7-point grading scale had been rare instances, usually from parents moving in from out-of-state where there had been a different scale. Some surrounding states such as Georgia, Florida and Mississippi are on, or considering going to, a 10-point scale.
The consortium of college/university admissions officers who met earlier this spring with the board communications committee were contacted via email regarding their opinion about the value or need for a 10-point high school grading scale versus our current 7-point scale. Admissions officers from three of the six institutions contacted responded, all recommending to continue with a 7-point scale.
Lise K. Keller, UNCG Director of Undergraduate Admissions, stated a 10-point scale would be perceived as a reduction in rigor and that moving to a 10-point scale would not positively affect a student's likelihood of qualifying for UNCG scholarships since standardized test scores are also part of the consideration process. The weighting scale of North Carolina public schools is already far more lenient than that of other states, and discourages the adoption of other policies that would increase that disparity.
Tim Jackson of Greensboro College also recommended staying with the 7-point system. It is being used state wide and with the weighting system students may be at a disadvantage if switched to a 10-point scale. It may be a positive move for students applying to more selective out of state schools as many of them use a 10-point scale. Greensboro College converts out of state applicants to the NC 7-point scale and weight their courses the same for both admissions and scholarship purposes. Most schools try to evaluate everyone on the same scale in order to be fair. Suspecting that most of GCS students do attend NC Colleges the 7-point scale may be more appropriate.
Jessie McCullough, Assistant Director of Admissions at Elon University, echoed continuing with a 7-point scale. Elon University recalculates a student’s GPA once they apply only looking at core academic courses, using a weighted system for Honors, AP, IB and Dual-enrollment courses. If a transcript has number grades available, Elon will use those to calculate the GPA based on a 10-point grading scale. However, in the case of Guilford County, only letter grades are reported on the transcripts so Elon is unable to provide Guilford County students with the benefit of converting to a 10-point grading scale when recalculating the GPA.
Ms. McCullough’s recommendation is to stick with a 7-point scale so that no one perceives that there has been a reduction in rigor. Suggesting converting to a 10-point scale will only lead to more grade inflation in your schools, which also does not reflect well on the school district. In order to best serve students and make them more competitive for both college admission and scholarship qualification, Ms. McCullough’s recommendation is to change transcripts to show both the student’s letter grade and number grade for each course. That way, you are consistent with other major urban districts in North Carolina (who all use a 7-point scale) and you are not inflating the grades of your students, but you are giving colleges the opportunity to benefit your students if the college’s policies allow.
Summary
The decision to change from a 7- to a 10-point grading scale would have to be made at the State Board of Education level. The three admissions officers who replied agreed that GCS should stay with a 7-point scale, since North Carolina has a policy of weighting certain courses and a 10-point scale would be perceived as a reduction in rigor.
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