Education Issues Debate

My ODD is in 3rd grade.  We really love the school our kids attend.  I do have a small issue.  The school has a grading scale with very high expectations...

A- 100-93%

B - 92-86&

C- 85 -77%

D- 76 - 68%

F- 67% and below

I understand that this grading scale insists that children reach high standards to receive a grade.  I think this is an appropriate grading scale for high schools, honors classes, and maybe even junior high.  My problem is that my thrid grader, who is getting 90% -92% percents in her classes is a B student and when she has some troubles due to some mild learning disabilities and well just being a kid..and she is earning a 76% in a class she gets a progress report for earning a D.  She is starting to identify herself as "not one of the smart kids" where we know that she has tested quite high on her IQ and we also know that her cousins...who are "the smart kids" in their own schools are earning the same percentages as our daughter but they are awarded A's at their school.

I know that I hope for my kids to all have an easy time being A students.  I know there is nothing wrong in my kid being a B student but it just doesn't seem to accurately identify her scholastic ability etc.

What do you think of this grading scale?  If you think it is great do you think it is great for all grade levels or do you think it is better for certain groups of students?

Our elementary grading scale is quite similar, although 70% and below is an F.  I don't like it, but elementary grades don't really mean that much.  In our school system the GATE program is determined by test scores not grades.

I actually don't think that is a fair scale for high school either or honors. Honors students are already doing more difficult work at a faster pace, why should they have a harder scale?

Honestly, I wish they would just do away with letter grades in our schools and just list the percent of your grade at the end of the grading period.

Our county just changed from that scale to a ten point scale. It took an enormous organized multi-year effort to change it. The Superintendent was against the change.

High potential(ability) does necessarily mean a student will be a high achiever. Effort, attitude, possible LDs are also factors that affect achievement.

When I was in high school this grading scale was used for our honors classes.  Yes our classes were more advanced and our grading scale was harder but we were up to it.  Also we received weighted grades for these honors classes...so an A in an honors class counted as a 5 in a 4 point scale.  With that in mind I thought it was appropriate for us to have to reach the highest standard possible.

I think that going on a percentage basis would be the only way to accurately reflect achievement.  Percentages are easy to compare etc when kids get older and are looking at applying to colleges.

I don't intrinsically have an issue with earning grades but then I was always a straight A student who was very competitive by nature.  I was motivated by the high standards etc.  After teaching high school at a school in which the children were an "at risk" population...I still didn't have a problem with assigning grades because I did not come across many kids that failed and actually put forth an effort.  I failed many kids but most of them were frequently truant, discipline problems (gangs etc) or just did not turn in homework...sometimes the lack of work turned was defiant.  Any teacher I worked with was almost always willing to work with a kid who was willing to work but didn't feel bad about failing a kid who did nothing.  Let me say that I was never told about a kid having an IEP or 504 plan that I didn't follow and I was one of those teachers that would go an extra mile when I could to help the kids. 

My trouble is that my kid doesn't fit into this system well and I am conflicted by this.  I don't want to send the message that grades are unimportant...because they do have some weight later in life.  I don't want her to think Mommy and Daddy don't care how well she does in school yet I don't want her to be discouraged by grades.