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Scoring an A on a test or assignment could score Winchester High School students a higher grade point average, if the School Committee votes to accept the GPA Committee’s recommendations on Jan. 23.
“I want to start by saying, if there was a magic sauce that any school district had in terms of ‘everyone should do this for their GPA, this is the best thing for students,’ every school would sign on for it,” said Dean of Students Anna Paradis. “There is not one prevailing GPA in any of the districts that seems common at this point.”
Paradis headed the GPA Committee tasked with taking a hard look at numerical values given to various grades for college prep and honors level classes.
The GPA Committee was formed after a parent asked why an A in Winchester was only equal to a 3.7 on the College Prep scale, rather than a 4.0, which is what most people traditionally understand an A to be.
The committee looked at 16 Bay State schools similar to Winchester. Paradis said some used a weighted scale, giving an A in honors a higher ranking than an A in college prep; some didn’t, some schools offered A-pluses and others didn’t.
“There really is, in the state, nothing that is super consistent about any of this,” she said, adding the only thing they did find was that more schools than not assigned a 4.0 to an A in college prep classes.
While the committee started out with the initial question of ‘should an A equal a 4.0,’ Paradis said they ended up with four questions to answer and they polled parents and faculty to help form their response
Survey says…
1) Should an A in college prep course equal an A? About 68% of faculty members polled and 78% of families said yes.
2) Should the district continue to issue A-pluses? About 72% of faculty members and 73% of families said yes.
3) Should an A and an A-plus have distinct numerical values, in other words should an A-plus rank higher in value than an A? About 55% of faculty and 64% families said yes.
4) Should WHS maintain its current two levels of weighting? About 69% of faculty and 81% of families said yes.
The only question that raised any flags of concern was the fourth, should WHS continue to use a weighted GPA scale.
“I have some reservations about this particular recommendation,” said WHS Principal Dennis Mahoney.
Mahoney said he accepted the recommendation, but thought it was something the School Committee might want to take a second look at down the road.
Paradis didn’t disagree.
“This one is more complicated,” she said. “There’s certainly a trend recently, in the last decade of schools moving towards unweighted GPA skills.”
But she said the survey was clear that faculty and families believe the district should continue the practice.
Mahoney told the School Committee he accepted all of the committee’s recommendations and urged the committee to as well.
The recommendations include the following:
• Assign a 4.0 to an A on the college prep grade point average scale.
• Maintain its current 2-level weighted GPA scale.
• Continue to offer A+’s and assign it the highest numerical value on the GPA chart.
• Grant an A+ and an A their own distinct numerical values, 4.3 and 4.0 respectively.
“I think, you know, in the case of these kinds of decisions, for me, it’s always best to have those who are most close to those decisions make them,” Mahoney said. “And I think you’ve made very clear recommendations that make a lot of sense, and I think we would be foolish not to accept those.
“So, I just wanted to say a word of thanks to everybody who contributed to this effort, both in terms of the survey as well as writing up such a clear presentation,” he added. “And look forward to getting this implemented when statutorily we are committed to do so. So, thank you all.”
Committee member Chris Nixon said he found it reassuring that faculty members and parents were so closely aligned with much of the survey.
Committee member Michelle Bergstrom said she hoped the district would also take a look at how it teaches students the value of a GPA beyond high school.
“That it’s not just to compare ourselves to our peers, but really, this tells a story about our journey through Winchester High School, too,” she said.
The School Committee plans to take a vote on the recommendations during its Jan. 23 meeting, following the public hearing on the budget, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
