'Argument has a major flaw'
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I read with interest your recent article about the eight-point grading scale used by Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS,) and how this compares to Fairfax County and other neighboring counties that use a 10-point grading scale. There were several subsequent letters arguing that this puts Loudoun students at a competitive disadvantage because here, one would have to score at least a 92 for an “A” or an 84 for a “B,” while the baseline score in these other districts would be a 90 or an 80, respectively.
This argument has a major flaw. Percentage comparisons are only valid when comparing constants, which is not the case here. LCPS tests are written by Loudoun County teachers and are designed to be graded on an eight-point scale, while Fairfax County tests are written by Fairfax County teachers and are designed to be graded on a 10-point scale.
These are not the same curriculums and these are not the same tests. Unless there is a gross disparity in the letter grades themselves, the arbitrary scale used to calculate the letter grades is irrelevant.
It would be like saying it’s much easier for water to boil in Canada because the boiling “grade” is only 100 degrees on their Celsius scale, while water here has to get all the way up to 212 degrees to receive the same boiling “grade” on our Fahrenheit scale. While terms like “boiling” and grades such as “A” have universal meaning, the raw scores used to measure them do not.
A more accurate judge of fairness would be to figure what percentage of LCPS students receive a grade of A, B, C, D and F, and then see how this grade distribution compares to neighboring jurisdictions.
Another measure would be to take a sampling of students from each county, who score in the 90th percentile and higher of the Standards Of Learning (SOL) Tests, and see how the LCPS students’ grade point averages (GPAs) compare to those of their peers in other districts.
Without uniform comparative data such as these, it is possible that Loudoun County Public Schools might actually give out a higher percentage of “A” grades than neighboring school systems. We just don’t know.
As a parent with two sons in the LCPS system, I would jump on this bandwagon in a moment if I thought they were being held to an unfair standard. But before raising the specter of a grading disparity that could cause everything from college rejection to higher insurance rates, the loss of scholarship money and even teen suicide, we should all take a deep breath and make sure we are comparing apples to apples.
Christopher P. Nicholson
Sterling
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