Sunday, April 30, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.
This past week the Clark County School Board approved a new requirement that strict numerical standards be used in assessing academic achievement. The reason for the change is twofold: to increase accountability and to raise academic standards.
To get an idea of how the Clark County School District's regulations worked previously, an "A" represented "excellent achievement" and a "B" represented "above average achievement." Starting in the 2006-07 academic year, a student receiving an "A" will be required to have a score of between 90 to 100 on class assignments, a "B" would be merited for a score of between 80 to 89, and so on.
Higher education officials have been saying for a number of years now that they believe there is grade inflation occurring in the Clark County School District. That belief exists because so many high school students fail to pass their final exams required for graduation and because a significant percentage of students entering public universities in Nevada - even those who are recipients of Millennium Scholarships - are required to take remedial courses their first year.
Implementing these new standards is long overdue. Doing so not only will result in students and their parents getting a better idea of how they're actually faring - there is a big difference between a score of 80 and 89, for instance - but it also will give school principals a better picture of a teacher's true grading scale.
The new policy alone won't end grade inflation. Some teachers could start handing out higher numerical scores to give students better grades, avoiding the intent of the policy. But using numerical scoring is the kind of tool that conscientious principals and school administrators could use for cross-referencing purposes - comparing teachers to other teachers within the school and to other schools - in trying to make sure that some teachers aren't being too easy in their grading. Ultimately, we need to expect more out of our students and in turn expect that teachers are giving them the grade they truly deserve. Grades are no place for charity.
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