Merrimack Valley

Parents question North Andover High grading system They say music elective given too much weight

By Drake Lucas
Staff writer
Published: April 11, 2008

NORTH ANDOVER — Some high school parents are worried the extra credit given in honors music classes is putting children who don't take music at a disadvantage when it comes to grade-point averages and class rank.

Honors band and honors chorus are the only electives that count toward a student's grade-point average, which determines a student's class rank. Grade-point averages and class rank are two factors used by colleges to decide who will be accepted and receive scholarships.

"This is unfairly penalizing students who are not in music," said parent Cindy Jalbert who, along with other parents, favors not counting any electives and basing the grade-point average on just core academics unless a system is developed that distributes credit to all electives.

Ann Lu, a parent active in the music program, said the grading system was not set up to favor music students. Lu said other honors electives have been cut over time, but that parents of music students fought to keep the honors music classes so students could advance in music. She said she would favor a system that offers more honors electives so that students can take advanced art, writing and business classes.

"We are very supportive of counting the other electives," she said. "We have just as many kids go on to art school as music school."

GPA in transition

High school Principal Carla Scuzzarella said she is trying to come up with a system that will be fair. She has already created a system that changes how the grade-point average is determined. In the new system, which she hopes to put in place for incoming freshmen, grades will be given weight on a 4-point scale, with A's receiving 4 points and F's receiving no points. Extra weight will be added for honors classes and the most weight will be given to Advanced Placement courses.

Scuzzarella said the issue of how to factor in electives is more complicated, especially with the limited number of electives offered at the school.

"It's not a simple fix. There are a lot of pieces that go into this," she said. "It is not something you can wave a magic wand and fix. You are talking about kids' futures. We are trying to get to a place where we are doing the best for our students while hurting the least amount of students."

The grade-point average figures in the number of credits a student is taking along with the weight of the grades a student receives in each class. All core classes are counted, such as math, science, English, history, social studies and foreign language.

In the music program, students can choose to take honors band and honors chorus, which are counted the same as an honors course in an academic subject. No other electives receive credit, including art, robotics, accounting and bioethics.

College decisions

Jalbert said juniors visiting colleges now and deciding where to apply are looking closely at where their grade-point average fits in with other students applying and if they would be able to get scholarships based on their grade-point average and class rank.

"If there is a kid whose class rank were to change to be in the top 10 to 20 percent, that might change what schools they go to and look at," Jalbert said. "Maybe they would be able to afford a school because they can get more money."

Kerri Mead, director of undergraduate admissions at University of Massachusetts at Lowell, said the school recalculates all the grade-point averages sent in by high schools. She said they do not usually factor in electives unless they are labeled as honors by the high school. The school does not recalculate class rank, which is used in considering who will receive scholarships and also is another way to evaluate students with a low grade-point average or low SAT scores.

Jorge Hernandez, director of freshman admissions at Merrimack College, said course selection and grades is the main focus for consideration, although class ranking also is a factor. At Merrimack, the grade-point average is reweighted so only classes in the core subjects are considered, but class rank is not recalculated.

Scuzzarella said she will discuss a new scheduling system next month with the School Committee, and will also talk about changes to how electives are counted. That could include developing standards for honors classes.

Jalbert and other parents said the sooner the better for changing the system to make it fair for students at the high school now.

But Lu said students have already signed up for and taken music classes with the expectation of getting honors credit.

"You can't take back something you already put out there," she said.

What do other high schools do?

Andover High School only includes academic courses, no electives in their grade-point average.

At Methuen High School, higher level electives are included in the grade-point average along with core academics.

Lawrence High School has two grade-point averages. One includes electives and is used for recognition within the school. The school also calculates a grade-point average of just core classes to determine class rank and which it sends to colleges.

Change in grade-point average at North Andover High School

Current:

Grade&AP/Honors&Level 1&Level 2&Level 3

A&6&5&4&3

B&5&4&3&2

C&4&3&2&1

D&3&2&1&.01

F&0&0&0&0

Proposed system:

Grade&AP&Honors&College Prep

A&5&4.5&4

B&4&3.5&3

C&3&2.5&2

D&2&1.5&1

F&0&0&0