Why do Catholic schools use such a different grading scale?

[Anonymous]

I am on the admission committee at a local independent school and see a lot of K-8 school report cards. It seems like every school (or school system) has a different scale. Fewer and fewer seem to actually use traditional letter grades (A, B, C, etc.) or even numerical (percentage) grades. It is a sea of terms like Emerging, Developing, Exploring, Secure, Basic, Proficient, Independent, and so forth. I think DCPS uses a 1-4 scale. I have also seen scales of 1-7 or 1-10. I agree it's a bit confusing that ADW elementary schools have this grading scale if they're going to use traditional grade letters, as I tend to think of A as 90-100, B as 80-89, and so forth. But at least it's fairly easy to interpret compared to some other scales.

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen public schools that use this scale. I don’t think it is just a Catholic school thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your question is "why does my child's school" use this scale, and the person to ask is someone at your child's school. This isn't a universal "Catholic school" thing.

I do know that the Archdiocese of Washington uses that scale in all of its elementary schools. 93+ is an A, 85-92 is a B

Nobody cares about elementary school grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen public schools that use this scale. I don’t think it is just a Catholic school thing.

Which one? MCPS has rampant grade inflation. In high school you could get a Q1 grade of 89, Q2 grade of 79, and end up with an A for the semester.

[Anonymous]

Different schools different scales

[Anonymous]

Remember Archdiocese is DC and MD schools, VA schools are a different diocese.

[Anonymous]

When I went to Catholic school in the 70s, one could not earn higher than a 99, because "only God is perfect".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your question is "why does my child's school" use this scale, and the person to ask is someone at your child's school. This isn't a universal "Catholic school" thing.

I do know that the Archdiocese of Washington uses that scale in all of its elementary schools. 93+ is an A, 85-92 is a B

Nobody cares about elementary school grades.

Uh..wrong. Kids care!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I went to Catholic school in the 70s, one could not earn higher than a 99, because "only God is perfect".

Haha!! I had forgotten that but yes, we were told the same thing in NY Catholic school in the 70s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tougher grading scale. It is not a bad thing.

It’s not tougher if the material is easier.

In our experience, the material isn’t easier. We pulled our kids out of our local Fairfax County elementary and moved them to parochial.

Depends on the school if it's more rigorous or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I went to Catholic school in the 70s, one could not earn higher than a 99, because "only God is perfect".

Haha!! I had forgotten that but yes, we were told the same thing in NY Catholic school in the 70s.

That is awesome! Too many kids today expect perfection from themselves and could use that lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I went to Catholic school in the 70s, one could not earn higher than a 99, because "only God is perfect".

Haha!! I had forgotten that but yes, we were told the same thing in NY Catholic school in the 70s.

That is awesome! Too many kids today expect perfection from themselves and could use that lesson.

Maybe someone should pass the word on to public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are trying to prove they are "more academic".

They typically ARE more academic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I went to Catholic school in the 70s, one could not earn higher than a 99, because "only God is perfect".

Haha!! I had forgotten that but yes, we were told the same thing in NY Catholic school in the 70s.

That is awesome! Too many kids today expect perfection from themselves and could use that lesson.

I was taught: Always room for improvement! No complacency

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which Catholic schools? Parochial or private?

They are all parochial and private. What planet are you from?