It’s the end of the semester and everybody is worried about grades. The one question that resonates through all of their minds–how can I get some extra credit? People might be asking this question all the more often in the near future as the administration begins to review the extra credit policy in our school.
One of the main things on the agenda is to assess whether the extra credit can actually show that the student learned something while doing it. This means that practices like bringing in a signed syllabus early or a box of tissues will probably become things of the past.
“There’s no new policy, there will just be an investigation of grade inflation,” Dave Tappan, principal, said.
Grade inflation is when a student’s grades are higher than what they should be, either because of emphasis on homework or extra credit. Schools over the past decade have moved toward the direction of an increased emphasis on testing, which is why tests like the Kansas Assessment and STAR tests exist, as many educators feel that these better demonstrate understanding of the subject.
I liked being able to get extra credit that way, but I know they didn’t serve any educational purpose,” Jacob Arbuckle, junior, said.
Extra credit policies differ from school to school–policies like bringing in a box of Kleenex are often nonexistent as teachers agree that it doesn’t reflect a student’s mastery in the subject matter. Examples such as these are not very common in other schools.
“We did not permit extra credit (at Washburn Rural High School), but our grade scale also didn’t have a D–only A, B, C and F,” Susan More, new teacher, said.
This policy, she explained, gave students room to make up for not having the extra credit.
The new policy will not affect systems where extra credit can be gained from doing bonus questions on a test or anything that requires students to show competence in a subject.
“Teachers and students should focus on skills achieved, not GPA,” Tappan said.
Despite the importance that grades have in our educational system, classes exist to teach information and to foster an understanding of the material and the new extra credit policy seeks to reflect this.