CPS Grading Scale
October 20, 2009 at 11:02 pm 22 comments
I got a note this week from my son’s school that referenced the CPS recommended grading scale, which I have to admit surprised me. Here’s how it looks:
A 93%-100%
B 88% – 92%
C 78% – 87%
D 70% – 77%
F 0% – 69%
I don’t have anything insightful or witty to say about this. It just strikes me as weird. Why is CPS so much tougher than the typical grading scale? Whatever happened to the old-fashioned 90% is an A, 80% is a B, etc? I can’t figure out the reasoning behind it. Grade inflation? (Or is it deflation?) The appearance of high academic standards?
C supposedly stands for “Meets the Standard” so I guess I wouldn’t want the standard to be in the 70%’s. Then again, I guess I never thought of getting C’s as meeting a standard. So maybe that’s the confusing part.
In any case, our school officials voted to revise our grading scale, which is great. But I think about the grades needed to get into the Selective Enrollment high schools and how strange it is that each school can determine their own grading scale. Heck, make it really lax and all our students can get into a good school! (kidding.)
As usual, if anybody has insight into this, please share.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: CPS grading scale.
1. also obsessed | October 21, 2009 at 9:41 am
I heard that all the grade schools were, this year, supposed to be uniform in their A-F grading scale.
Not sure if it is happenning as of yet, but it was the whole issue of Selective Enrollment Highschools that got the conversation started, as I understand it.
2. Another mommy | October 21, 2009 at 11:46 am
I guess the standards are higher for gifted schools. It’s still unfair. 87% in any subject should be a “B” not a “C.”
3. yet another mom | October 21, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I don’t understand how there is a 7 point spread for an A, a 5 point spread for a B, and 11 point spread for a C and a 7 point spread for a D.
4. another mommy | October 21, 2009 at 2:24 pm
@ yet another mom-
I thought the exact same thing.
5. former straight A (90%) student | October 21, 2009 at 3:25 pm
87% should be a solid to high B and not a C ! ! !
At least with the new grade portals we can see exactly how they are doing on their assignments. I personally love them and have found them to be a huge incentive for my oldest to do well.
6. mom | October 21, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Our catholic school has this scale. Our local public school did have this but went to the traditional 90-100 is an A.
7. dazedandconfused | October 22, 2009 at 5:02 pm
interesting. i just got a notice that said our school [skinner west] ‘s “newly revised grading scale” was the 90-100 = A, 80-89 B. no idea what it was formerly.
8. GPA | October 22, 2009 at 10:20 pm
There is no uniformity of grading scales within CPS, even within a school, different teachers can have differnet scales for A, B, C, D etc. CPS needs to set standards so that all are graded the same curve
Curious to know why everyone thinks a lower scale (90-100 for an A) is good. When kids get into HS- they will be in for a rude awakening with some honors and AP classes with scales where 95-100 = A, 89-94 =B etc.
9. chicago parent | October 23, 2009 at 10:42 am
A uniform grading scale would be the only fair way to go. So if your school assumes that 92+ is an A & others give an A for 90+, your child will be at a disadvantage when applying to an accelerated program that uses grades as part of their admissions criteria. This disadvantage could be significant since 25 points are deducted per grade level less than an A (-25pts for a B, -50 points for a C & so on). A straight B average is -100 points.
Another thing to consider is how the grade is calculated. I thought the purpose of a grade was to measure a student’s knowledge of the subject. Some school’s put a large weighting on project work & homework. A much better measure of knowledge would be to weigh in-class work like quizzes & tests for the majority of the grade. This along with rampant grade inflation may account for the large discrepancy between test scores and grades among many students.
10. Molly | November 9, 2009 at 9:19 pm
For as long as I have been in school, I am currently a junior in college, the grading scale has always been 93-100 is an A. I’ts funny looking at it now because to me a 90% does not seem like it is even close to being in the A range. Students will be more prepared for the grading scale in high school if they receive this in elementary also. However, I do agree that CPS should have a uniform grading scale. It was always the case that the public and private schools differed, and therefore one was thought to be “more challenging” than the other. Not true.
11. concerned | November 16, 2009 at 12:48 am
I think that in all fairness the grades should entered as points/percentages for the selective enrollment process so that a uniform grade can be assigned to the subject. This would take care of variances in grading scales.
12. Tammy Woods | November 20, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I just received my 4th graders first report card and was shocked to receive an F in Reading (which he is an advanced reader). I was shocked to learn that the GPA that I grew up with is history and now the system is much stronger. It seems that our quality of education is going down and the demands are going up! How do you feel that I should discipline a 4th grader?
13. Jackie Keller | March 3, 2010 at 6:41 pm
As a homeschooler, I use a 7 point grading scale: 93-100 A, 85-92 B etc. The 90-100 A system is assisting in the overall dumbing down of America! Our children shouldn’t be taught that 90 is excellent. It’s good, but not excellent!
14. Student | September 28, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Speaking as a student that goes to a selective enrollment highschool the grading system IS a little messed up. I think they need to find a new way to grade all together. It is EXTREMELY frustrating as a student to be getting a 100% in a class and then drop one letter grade becuase you got half-credit on ONE assignment for whatever reason. Its so stressful. The averaging system seems like the best and only choice but it is really tough. It teaches responsibility in a way, but everyone is human and everyone WILL forget things once in a while or some days they WILL be too overwhelmed with other work to finish all of it properly. As for the whole grading scale thing i think its good that they let teachers have their own. How hard a class is DOES vary from teacher to teacher and every teacher has a different method of teaching so i think different grading scales are essential as long as they stay in an acceptable range.
15. Alex-Haley-Student | January 28, 2011 at 5:18 pm
I believe that the grading scale is rediculous.! I think it is because how are you going to say 100-93% is an A. At my old school 100-90 % Was an an, A! This grading scale is so messd up! but it is right, because they hang it in every class i go to!
16. Jeannine Cordero | May 13, 2011 at 11:17 am
I would be very interested in working with a group who is lobbying for an across the board uniform grading scale within CPS. This is a very serious issue, particularly when applying to selective enrollment high schools. In Tier 4, if you have one “B” on your report card, you are out at Payton and Northside even with perfect scores. If someone is working on this issue, please let me know so I can help.
17. kiki | June 1, 2011 at 6:25 pm
I just wrote on the otherside about the grading system, do anyone know how colleges look at this since there are different grading scales?
18. Donzo Mortini | June 1, 2011 at 7:53 pm
As a CPS elementary school teacher,
I’ve always hated this grading scale.
I circumvent it by entering grades
as “A,” “B,” “C,” and so forth.
Gradebook accepts letter grades,
by the way.
To H with this oddly rigorous grading scale.
19. G.Smith | August 12, 2011 at 11:47 pm
This Grading scale is seriously an issue, because it confuses the children. It makes them think they are failing when they are not. What is with all these test, and model classes. A six year old should not be denied childhood, because they have to study to cut the mustard……someone please…get rid of this mess….
20. velocity | January 19, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Uniformity is needed, particularly among the selective enrollment high schools. Students at Northside and Payton should compete based on a level playing field.
21. Anthony Brancato | January 25, 2012 at 9:37 am
You’re lucky; in many schools you now need a 94 to get an A, although when that’s the case it’s generally 86 to 93 for a B, 78 to 85 for a C and 70 to 77 for a D.
22. sue emerick | February 3, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Our catholic school has the 7 point spread grading scale, our public school has the 10 point spread….how do colleges look at this, seems they are not comparing apples with apples.