Imagine you are a high school student. You work diligently to turn in and complete assignments during the year. Unfortunately, it feels like your school’s own grading scale is working against you. This is the reality of many students at my school, Elizabethtown High School. My school has always prided itself on a "tradition of excellence”. Although I love my school and believe we are excellent in many ways, our grading scale has always been an issue for me and many others.

Here in Kentucky, many schools use a 10-point system where the cutoff for an A is 90%. Another commonly used system is an 8-point scale in which a cutoff for an A is 92%. Many schools like to use the 8-point or even a 7-point scale because it is achievable to get good grades yet still set a standard for students. It’s not an “easy A”.  For students at my school, many of us work tirelessly to achieve good grades due to our cutoff of a 95% for an A. We are one of very few schools in the state that use this scale. 

We do realize we are unique compared to other schools. It has been a controversial topic in my town for awhile. For us, it often poses the question: how fair truly is this system? 

Rigorous grading scales have proven to have many effects on students, both good and bad. A survey conducted at my school received 150 responses out of our student body of around 800. The data showed that 60% of students who took the survey do not currently have a 4.0 GPA, but would if we had a 10 point scale.  Over half of students worried that their relatively lower GPAs would have an effect on scholarship opportunities. Additionally, 83% of students said that our grading scale has a negative effect on their mental health to some degree. Meanwhile, just 34% of students said that our grading scale motivates them to put in more effort. 

Educators as well as students have opinions on Elizabethtown’s unique grading system. Marcia Downs, a former teacher, principal, assistant principal, curriculum coordinator, and site based decision-making council member, can see both its pros and cons.

“I would like to see our state get stronger,” Downs explained. “Our state needs to move up and raising the standards on the grading scale, that might really help. I see the negative part, but I think it is probably the way to go.”

She also spoke about the impact of these grading standards on Elizabethtown’s dense population of economically disadvantaged students. Growing up, she had a ten-point grading scale, which benefitted students who weren’t able to dedicate as much time to school as others. 

“A lot of the disadvantages, at least around where we live, is socioeconomic. So they don't have a support system that some kids do,” Downs said. 

“At that point I thought it was the right thing to do,” she said. “Our county was economically deprived and kids had a hard way.” 

While for some a high GPA is just another number, for others, it’s a huge financial advantage. If you are a high school student in Kentucky, you have probably at least heard of the KEES program. It is a program vital in bridging gaps for high-performing students who may be experiencing financial disparities, awarding yearly scholarships based on GPA, ACT/SAT scores, and AP scores. KEES money can help cover many expenses related to postsecondary education, such as books, dorms, and meal plans. However, the system rewards students based on the GPA earned at their respective high school. This means students are held to different standards for the same reward. For example, a student who had a 90 average at a school with a 10-point grading scale, would have a higher GPA than a student at a school with an 8-point or even 5-point grading scale.

As reported in a 2021 article from The News-Enterprise, members of my community attempted counteractive measures: Teachers, PTA members, and other members of the community secured the issue a spot on the agenda for an October district board meeting after nine months of effort. They cited many of the same potential issues, and even had speakers who had graduated from my own district talk about how they were affected in the postsecondary world because of their experience. The then-superintendent argued that she believed that the grading scale was a primary factor in my district's high GPAs and ACT scores, so a decision to change it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The board meeting ended in the topic not advancing any further. 

This begs the question: How can we truly measure proficiency if everyone is being held to different standards? Holding Kentucky students to higher standards has the potential to motivate students to become better, but there are factors we should look at before deciding that raising standards is the best and only way to do so.