School joins others with traditional grading scale

New Edgewood grading scale to be used by teachers in grades 6 - 12

97 - 100 A+

93 - 96 A

90 - 92 A-

87 - 89 B+

83 - 86 B

80 - 82 B-

77 - 79 C+

73 - 76 C

70 - 72 C-

67 - 69 D+

63 - 66 D

60 - 62 D-

50 - 59 F

TRENTON — Edgewood City School teachers will adhere to a more traditional grading scale next school year than the one used in recent years.

On June 27, the Board of Education voted in favor of returning to a 10-point grading scale for grades six through 12. In the new scale, the lowest possible “A” is a grade of 90 percent. In Edgewood’s former grading scale, the lowest “A” was 92 percent.

Denise Griffin, the district’s curriculum director, said Edgewood students have been graded on a 10-point scale in the past, but district leaders elected to switch to an 8-point scale in the early 1980s to push students academically.

However, more school districts now are using the 10-point scale. Last year, Fairfield schools conducted a broad study looking at the grading scales used in schools across southwestern Ohio. The majority used 10-point scales, said Roger Martin, curriculum director.

Switching back keeps Edgewood’s grading consistent with other area school districts, particularly when students are competing for college admission or scholarship opportunities, Griffin said.

“If we’re at 92 (percent) and everyone else is at 90, then our kids are going to have to work a little harder to compete,” she said. “That was the big reason.”

Edgewood teachers can continue to issue plus or minus grades, Griffin said, even though many school districts have dropped the option because most colleges register an “A” as 4.00 regardless of whether it is an “A+” or A-”.

“Until we’ve done a more in-depth study and we get more teachers able to talk about it, we didn’t want to mess with it at this time,” she said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or asedlak@coxohio.com.