Fairfax to Address Tough Grading Policy

School System Will Offer Colleges Comparisons of Student Performance

Fairfax County school officials are developing a guide to help college admissions officers understand the county's tough grading scale by showing how students perform in relation to one another.

Deputy Superintendent Richard Moniuszko said he will direct principals to prepare a grade distribution chart for this year's seniors to show, for example, how many students earned 4.0 or 3.0 grade-point averages at a given school. The form, meant to accompany college applications, also will be sent as an addendum to thousands of early applications that have been filed by students in the region's largest school system.

The action was prompted by parents who are lobbying to change the county's grading scale, which requires 94 percent for an A and gives no extra credit for honors courses. They say the policy is punitive compared with the 90 percent standard used in many other places, including Montgomery County, and puts their children at a disadvantage in applying for colleges and scholarships. Fairfax County gives half a point for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, less than what many other school systems give.

"In this economic environment, it will be harder to get into schools," particularly public colleges, said Sara Pacque-Margolis, a McLean High School parent and co-founder of Fairgrade, a parent group organized last year to change the grading scale. Thousands have signed petitions or written letters urging the School Board to change the policy. A similar movement has emerged in Loudoun County, where 93 percent is the standard for an A.

Fairfax school officials are studying various grading policies and surveying college admissions officers. They plan to issue a report this month to the superintendent, who will make a recommendation to the School Board about whether to change the overall grading policy.

Fairfax County's average SAT score is more than 100 points higher than state and national averages, but the county's GPAs do not compare as favorably. That combination could send a message that students are smart but not trying very hard, many parents say.

A grade distribution chart would show, for example, how few students earn a GPA of 4.0 or above.

"It says these aren't underperforming kids; we just have rigorous" grading policies, Pacque-Margolis said.

The McLean mother requested this fall that her children's high school send out a grade distribution chart along with transcripts -- something that is already done in Montgomery and Loudoun. Her twin son and daughter are applying for colleges and scholarships, including some that base awards on how students rank in their class.

Class rankings were abandoned in Fairfax several years ago, because GPA variations were often so small -- a few hundredths or even thousandths of a point -- that they became meaningless.

Initially the school system denied her request, but later she learned that other schools were disclosing such information to colleges. School officials said they had been unaware of the inconsistency until parents brought it to their attention.

Moniuszko said it is a good idea for schools to be consistent and help colleges and universities understand how a student's performance fits in with the overall performance of the school.

"Colleges and universities have a tough time understanding what a grade means from one school system to another," he said.