GRANGER TWP. — A change in the grading system at Highland Schools aims to put students on a level playing field with other schools in the county and the state, school officials said.

The school board voted last month to change the system from a seven-point grading scale to 10-point scale, which means that instead of a student having to score 93 percent to earn an “A,” 90 percent would earn the same grade.

Catherine Aukerman

Curriculum director Laurie Boedicker said Highland was the only district in the county, and one of a small handful of districts in the state, that was still on a seven-point scale.

Superintendent Catherine Aukerman said the seven-point scale put Highland students at a disadvantage when compared to students from other schools, because 92 percent was good enough to earn an “A” at most schools, but would earn a “B” at Highland.

“Our students are not competing for scholarships and financial aid in a vacuum,” Aukerman said.

When students apply to college, she said, their applications for admission as well as financial aid don’t always reflect the difference in grading scales, so a student’s grade-point average could be lower on a seven-point scale with no explanation.

“The difference could mean thousands of dollars of scholarship money,” Aukerman said.

The change takes effect next school year, but is not retroactive to the beginning of a student’s high school career.

Boedicker said the change also will allow for plusses and minuses to be factored into a student’s GPA. Previously, a student could earn a “B+” in a class, but when counted in a GPA, it was just a “B.”

Honors courses also will be weighted differently, Boedicker said.

In the current system, an honors course is given the same additional weight as an advanced-placement course, she said, but is not the same level of work.

The new system will give honors courses half the additional weight of an AP course.

Boedicker said a curriculum council made up of administrators, staff and parents researched the pros and cons of making a switch.

The original reason behind the seven-point scale, she said, was an idea that if it was harder to earn an “A,” students would study harder, and thus learn more.

Boedicker said the amount of effort a student has to put forth to earn an “A” is determined by the teachers and the class, not the grading scale.

“The focus now needs to be on the learning,” she said.

Contact Jennifer Pignolet at (330) 721-4063 or jpignolet@medina-gazette.com.

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