Maine District 207 grading scale to bump up lowest grades

Soon, 43 percent could be the lowest score a student can receive at the three schools in Maine Township High School District 207.

Proposed changes to the district's grading scale would make the range for an "F" grade 43 percent to 59 percent, eliminating the so-called "killer O" that district officials believe makes it hard for students to ever dig themselves out of a bad grade.

Hank Thiele, the district's assistant superintendent of technology and learning, said the grading scale changes follow best practices recommended by educational experts and consultants who have visited the district over the last five years.

By establishing a floor for the lowest grade, the adjusted 100-point scale would be comparable to a 5-point grading scale used by some school districts, Thiele said.

Going to a 5-point scale would eliminate the problem of a "killer 0," Thiele said, but most students and parents are familiar with the traditional 100-point scale.

"We're trying to keep that intact and introduce best practices," he said.

Already, some teachers at Maine East were told at the end of last semester to bump up some low grades to 43 percent on "specific targeted assignments," Thiele confirmed.

Early reactions show some teachers are on board with the changes while others are not.

Teachers union president Mike Poehler said some individual teachers were consulted during the development of the grading policy change, but the union as a whole was never formally notified until the proposal was revealed at a school board meeting this week.

"Many of our members feel strongly both ways about these potential changes," Poehler said in a statement. "Agree or disagree, it's a futile matter since the faculty at large was not asked to weigh in on these changes."

Teachers will work within the framework they are presented, he added.

Thiele said the district will collect feedback from teachers at a faculty in-service April 19 and potentially make tweaks to the policy before it is voted on by the school board May 2.

Also proposed are three new letter grades: "NY" for a student that is allowed to make up or turn in late work; "NO" for a student that has exhausted all opportunities for making up credit; and "F." used in cases of plagiarism or cheating.

The new grading system would take effect in the fall.