Grading Reform Proposals Approved by Faculty
General Changes:
All grades will be rounded to the hundredths (e.g., A- = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, etc.).
A new top grade of A+ will be awarded 4.33 points.
The new minimum grade point average for academic good standing will be 2.33
For students who have completed one or more semesters or grading periods prior to the implementation of this new policy, the minimum grade point average for academic good standing will remain 2.0.
First Year Grading Changes:
The new mean will be 2.9 (subject to waiver by Dean).
The median will be B (subject to waiver by Dean).
The instructor shall award a minimum of 15% grades in the A range (A+, A, and A-), again, subject to waiver by the Dean.
The guideline for standard deviations will be .65 or higher.
These standards will apply to first year day students, to evening students, and PLEAS students when taking classes taught in the first year day program, and to SCALE students during the first and second grading periods.
Upper Division Grading Changes
The mean will be 3.0 (plus or minus one tenth) and subject to waiver by the Dean.
The median will be B (subject to waiver by the Dean).
As a guideline, instructors should award 15% or more A grades (A+, A, A-).
The mean and median standards are discretionary for classes with fewer than 30 students.
Conversion Formula for Transition Students
The faculty approved a second proposal that addresses concerns of students in transition (students who will have received grades under both the old and new systems). The proposals calls for development of a conversion formula to provide an adjusted law school grade point average. The conversion formula will be calculated based on Fall semester grades and should be available some time during the Spring semester. This converted LGPA will be the basis for calculating class rank for all students in transition. In addition, the transitional student would have both the unconverted and the converted LGPA printed on the student’s transcript, with a note of explanation.
The transition steps address two concerns that students have raised. First, the converted LGPA will be higher than the original LGPA, allowing a student to include the converted LGPA on a resume. Second, the transition steps will address problems in some transitional students have voiced about losing class rank position to other students in the same class who have more graded units left on their schedules. Since class rank will be determined based on the converted grade point average, the number of grades a student receives under the new system should have no greater impact than if there had been no revision in the grading policy.
All grades will be rounded to the hundredths (e.g., A- = 3.67, B+ = 3.33, etc.).
A new top grade of A+ will be awarded 4.33 points.
The new minimum grade point average for academic good standing will be 2.33
For students who have completed one or more semesters or grading periods prior to the implementation of this new policy, the minimum grade point average for academic good standing will remain 2.0.
First Year Grading Changes:
The new mean will be 2.9 (subject to waiver by Dean).
The median will be B (subject to waiver by Dean).
The instructor shall award a minimum of 15% grades in the A range (A+, A, and A-), again, subject to waiver by the Dean.
The guideline for standard deviations will be .65 or higher.
These standards will apply to first year day students, to evening students, and PLEAS students when taking classes taught in the first year day program, and to SCALE students during the first and second grading periods.
Upper Division Grading Changes
The mean will be 3.0 (plus or minus one tenth) and subject to waiver by the Dean.
The median will be B (subject to waiver by the Dean).
As a guideline, instructors should award 15% or more A grades (A+, A, A-).
The mean and median standards are discretionary for classes with fewer than 30 students.
Conversion Formula for Transition Students
The faculty approved a second proposal that addresses concerns of students in transition (students who will have received grades under both the old and new systems). The proposals calls for development of a conversion formula to provide an adjusted law school grade point average. The conversion formula will be calculated based on Fall semester grades and should be available some time during the Spring semester. This converted LGPA will be the basis for calculating class rank for all students in transition. In addition, the transitional student would have both the unconverted and the converted LGPA printed on the student’s transcript, with a note of explanation.
The transition steps address two concerns that students have raised. First, the converted LGPA will be higher than the original LGPA, allowing a student to include the converted LGPA on a resume. Second, the transition steps will address problems in some transitional students have voiced about losing class rank position to other students in the same class who have more graded units left on their schedules. Since class rank will be determined based on the converted grade point average, the number of grades a student receives under the new system should have no greater impact than if there had been no revision in the grading policy.
posted by Megamamma at 1:29 PM
2 Comments:
Interesting note on the .65 required standard deviation for first years. That means no more than 66% of grades will fall between a 2.25 and a 3.55 (C+ to B+). And with 15% of grades in the 3.7 or higher category, yet the median and mean at a 2.9, that means that for there will need to be an equal number of grades of, well, C or lower to balance this out in an unskewed setting.
In English: There are still going to be a number a Cs handed out.
Well, what did you expect? All A's? I think it's a step in the right direction. Awarding C's to people at the bottom probably makes more sense than awarding F's if the work they are doing would be passable in practice.
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