But policy inconsistency on requests leads school board to table change.
By: Eileen Oldfield
A proposal to use weighted grade point average (GPA) for high school students, replacing class rank on student transcripts, was tabled at the Board of Education’s June 18 meeting because of a discrepancy on whether the policy will allow parents to see their children’s weighted averages.
The specific sections of the policy that board members questioned dealt with maximum amount of grade points on the weighted scale, as well as who could see the weighted GPA.
The weighted GPA system will take the place of the class rank system that the board voted to abolish in 2006. Class rank will still be calculated under the new policy, however, it will not be included on a student’s transcript or given to colleges. The system will reward students for taking more challenging classes by giving additional grade points for those classes.
"A weighted GPA will provide a higher GPA based on advanced classes students take," said Dave Kanaby, policy committee member. "By eliminating a class rank on the student’s transcript, it forces college admission officers to review the entire transcript and not automatically eliminate a student from admission solely based on their rank."
Specific concerns about the weighted GPA’s scaling had to do with the amount of possible grade points on the scale. While the maximum amount of points on the regular scale is 4.0, the weighted system allows students to exceed the 4.0 grade point maximum.
"There are discrepancies in the actual GPA and the weight on the 4.0 scale," said board member Marc Rosenburg at the meeting. "The numbers don’t make sense in comparison because the scales aren’t the same."
Mr. Rosenburg was concerned about the availability of class rank to parents and adult students. The policy’s initial phrasing contradicted itself by stating that class rank would not be available at a parent’s request in one section, and would be available at a parent’s request in a different section.
The proposal will go back to the Policy Committee for rewording, and will be presented again at the July 16 meeting.
Under the current system, student’s grades during their freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school contribute to their class rank, as does the difficulty of the courses they take. The numeric grade is multiplied by the amount of credits a student receives for the course, and by a weighting factor, which is based on the course’s honors, college prep, or standard designation.
Right now, honors classes receive a 1.5-weighting factor, college prep classes receive a 1.25-weighting factor, and standard classes receive a 1.00-weighting factor.
Bernards, Franklin, Manville, Montgomery and Westfield school districts also have a weighted GPA system. The board hopes to have the policy in place for the 2007 to 2008 school year.
"The bottom line to me is that the transcript should show anything that will help the kid get into college," said board member Wolfgang Schneider. "There’s so many kids applying to schools now that counselors are only looking at a number."