Eastern students alike strive for that coveted “A” when completing projects and tests, but when what qualifies as an “A” differs from school to school, what does it really mean? 

    At Eastern, we abide by an 8-point grade scale, meaning to earn an “A” in a class, you must receive anywhere between a 92 to 100. However, at schools in neighboring towns such as Cherry Hill East and West, Haddonfield High, Lenape, Shawnee, and Cherokee, students are awarded an “A” for grades ranging from 90 to 100. Unlike the other schools—who have followed this protocol for an extensive amount of time—Haddonfield High School recently switched to the 10-point grade scale in May 2021. 

    While grading systems tend to be personalized based on district, is the two-point difference truly fair? Is there a valid reason behind the differing scales? How do we benefit from an 8-point grade scale vs. a 10-point grade scale? Unfortunately, no evidence was supplied to answer these seemingly perplexing questions. Even Eastern’s Director of Academic Programs and Student Performance, Dr. Borda, agrees that the extremely sought-after research is unfindable. 

    Before our current grading system was implemented, no numerical value was attached to a student’s work. District policy was to only report letter grades rather than numerical grades, making the worth of an “A” relatively subjective. According to Dr. Borda, Eastern switched from letter grades to the 8-point scale between 1999 and 2003. Numerical grades proved to be more precise and efficient when calculating cumulative GPAs. 

    Upon making the change, a 10-point scale wasn’t necessarily on the administration’s mind; the 8-point scale used to be more common and the favorable choice. Yet, while more schools make the switch to a 10-point scale, Dr. Borda feels unsure if a new system will truly benefit our school. “In education, we make changes hoping for an outcome. We make the change, it disrupts a lot of things, but we don’t necessarily see the outcome we were hoping for,” states Dr. Borda in a recorded interview. 

    Although Dr. Borda sees no advantage in any particular grade scale, she firmly believes that our current scale provides consistency. “We have had a consistent grading system for a very long time. Our parents, students, and families know and are comfortable with the system,” says Dr. Borda. But couldn’t one assert that the same parents, students, and families Dr. Borda mentioned were previously unfamiliar with the 8-point grade scale, so can we truly blame Eastern’s lack of change on the need for consistency? Though it may be challenging, we must embark on the ambitious journey of improving Eastern. 

    Remote schooling simply proves that we, high school students, are capable of adapting to new protocols or systems. If a 10-point scale increases the number of students who earn Distinguished Honor Roll, then we can readily adjust. If a 10-point scale improves our comparability and competitiveness to neighboring schools, then we are prepared to make a beneficial transition. 

    That being said, everything ultimately comes down to college. Students’ motives behind working towards high grades like an “A” stem from the want to attend an applaudable college. Therefore, Dr. Borda claims that colleges don’t even see an earned letter grade— transcripts primarily display the earned number grade. 

    While transcripts show our unweighted final grades, they also show our weighted cumulative GPA— the most sacred statistic to many colleges. Dr. Borda reiterates that weighted calculations “…are a way of normalizing grades and determining what an ‘A’ is when students are coming from very different schools.” Thus, is Eastern’s thought process that since letter grades hardly matter in the grand scheme of things, do they think that changing the grade scale is unnecessary?

    Even if colleges are ignorant to letter grades, our high school is not. Many accomplishments are based on letter grades, such as Distinguished Honor Roll and National Honors Society (NHS). To achieve Distinguished Honor Roll, a student must obtain an “A” or higher in every class. To be inducted into NHS, a student must have a cumulative GPA of an “A” or higher. However, if the grade scale was shifted to a 10-point scale, more students would receive these honors, as a broader range would be accepted. 

    Upon receiving over 115 responses to a Google Form questioning if students have an issue with the current grading system, negative feedback greatly outweighed the positive responses. More than one hundred students voted yes to having a problem with the 8-point scale, while only twelve voted that the system is fine. The 90.4% of students disagreeing with Eastern’s grade scale proves that change is not a concept among the minority; change is something many of us strongly support. Further research regarding students’ opinions will be conducted to receive a more accurate representation of the student body. 

    Maybe our 8-point grade scale results in higher-performing students. Maybe it leads to greater motivation and determination or even increases the rigor of Eastern’s academics. But if there is no clear evidence or research to support such a peculiar grading system, why is Eastern tightly clinging to the 8-point grade scale even if our closest competitors have already moved on?