Oak Creek Grading Practices: The Pros and Cons

Discussions over grading practices and scales in Oak Creek will continue over the next several months, as disagreement between parents, teachers and school administrators is still evident.

Teachers and administrators presented an overview of new grading practices, some of which have been the subject of criticsim within the community, in a meeting Monday night.

School officials say the practices are designed to give a true indication of a student's achievement in any given class, as well as provide more consistency throughout Oak Creek High School and the district's two middle schools.

Some of the practices have drawn more attention than others. Here's a look at some of the arguments for and against those practices, drawn from information and presentations on the grading scale and comments from supporters and those who object to the changes.

Retaking tests. Under the new practices, students have ample opportunity to retake tests if they feel they can do better.

For: Members of a committee who spent more than a year researching these practices said students should get an opportunity to fully demonstrate they have learned the material and not be judged by a single test. If students know they can do better than what the test shows, they should get another chance to prove it.

It shouldn't matter when someone grasps the material: if a student has a full understanding of a class' concepts, their grade should reflect that. It also helps students who know the material but happen to be bad at taking tests.

Against: It's not clear exactly how many times a student is allowed to retake a test; teachers are still trying to determine how best to deal with this issue. Sometimes students won't come prepared at all knowing they will get a chance at a retake.

Also, retaking tests doesn't prepare children for the real world: in many workplaces and colleges, they won't get continued second chances. And people tend to learn more from their failures then their successes.

Homework. The main purpose of daily homework is "practice" and should have a minimal inclusion, if any, in final grades.

For: Homework is practicing skills that have been taught in class and shouldn't be indicative in grades. Students won't be able to stop taking homework seriously, because if they do, they won't have the ability to do well on quizzes and tests, where their performance counts.

Against: This practice does not prepare students well for life after high school, particularly in college, where homework assignments very much matter. It also is an indicator of students' effort, which should be part of the grade.

Zeros. The impact of zeros for work turned in should be reduced or mitigated.

For: A "zero" skews and distorts grades and doesn't give a true representation of academic achievement. Instead, teachers should give students an opportunity to complete missing assignments. In most cases, taking a zero shouldn't even be an option.

Against: Like with retaking tests, this practice may encourage students not to take their homework seriously and sends the wrong message about getting continual second chances.

Behavior. Any "non-academic" factors, like behavior, are dealt with separately.

For: Behavioral-type issues don't specifically relate to a student's knowledge of class material and thus shouldn't be part of the grade. They are handled separately between teachers and students, when a teacher will review progress and if necessary, the student's plan for improvement.

Against: This practice could unfairly punish students who behave, show up on time and generally do the right thing, yet have their grades handled the same as those who constantly misbehave.

Grading scales. Changing the grading scales was originally proposed so that the high school and both middle schools would be consistent. This is connected to the discussion, but also a little bit of a seperate issue.

The grading scale is the one aspect of this issue that has to be approved by the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board. The scale will remain status quo this school year and be revisited by the board before next school year. The grading practices, meanwhile, are in place.

Opinions conflict about whether Oak Creek's grading scale is in line with others in the area or is too strict. Some parents feel it's too strict and hurts students who are competing against others for college admission and scholarships. A student from a school with a more lenient grading scale will probably look better than an Oak Creek student, who would be "punished," parents argued.

Robert Blust, dean of admissions at Marquette University, countered at the meeting Monday that universities are aware that high schools use different grading scales. Therefore, many colleges use their own formulas when determining admission.

In addition, colleges also are generally more keen on class rank and ACT scores than GPA, and also look closely at course rigor and extra-curricular activities, he said.