Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Standardizing Texas GPAs could dumb down students
This could be an endangered position at Texas schools in the future.
The plan to standardize GPAs in all Texas school districts, which some say is necessary so colleges and universities can properly assess student transcripts, may have the effect of students choosing not to take challenging classes. Under current rules, students receive extra GPA credit for taking pre-Advanced Placement and pre-International Baccalaureate courses, ones that are required to move on to regular AP and IB classes. Without that incentive, students may say, "Ah, screw it -- I'm taking shop where I don't have to worry about a grade."
Posted by Alex B.
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Pavel Lishin, says:
Are we competing with Florida for dumbest state here, or what?
Verified
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jtmbls, says:
It’s not like the weighted system they have now is completely fair anyway. It is a little disheartening when as a student you take a full AP course load and then get outranked by someone who took mostly basic courses.
Anonymous
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Pavel Lishin, says:
Also true, but I'm pretty sure any college worth getting into looks at the actual classes you took as well; a B+ in AP Calculus should put you ahead of any A+ shop student.
Unless you're going to A&M and majoring in Shopology, or whatever it is those guys do down in College Station.
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1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
luniz, says:
My classes were all weighted the same, that didn't keep me from taking AP classes. If you pass the test, you get college credit. That's plenty of incentive.
Anonymous
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jtmbls, says:
I think the ones who really cared about ranking were the ones who picked UT as a first choice, as a top ten ranking guarantees you a spot.
Anonymous
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Scott Doyle, says:
From what I understand, Top 10 granted admission to take general core classes...but you still had to apply and be accepted by respective schools based on performance (McCombs School of Business, Cockrell School of Engineering, etc).
Top 10 may get your foot in the door but it doesn't guarantee you're worth your salt in your desired field of study.
Also, I concur with luniz - simply because you're not weighted anymore than regular classes doesn't mean AP students lack incentive. I didn't have to take any math outside of COBA required stats since I passed the Calc AP exam.
Come to think of it, I don't think my HS weighted AP any differently either. At least, I know I was in the top 5% heading into senior year and I topped my 3 AP classes...but somehow dropped out of the top 5%. Heard our valedictorian got knocked up and quit college fairly early, too.
sigh
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1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Pavel Lishin, says:
I'm pretty sure every class's valedictorian got knocked up early. Yours did it in college; the one after my year didn't even wait to get out of high school.
I'm not sure that my class's even bothered going to college; she decided that instead of going to any school in Texas for free, she'd rather stay home for the sake of her hillbilly boyfriend.
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1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
Jason Rice, says:
Hmm. I remember a million years ago our (to be) Valedictorian ducked out of our trig class and I thought it odd. Later, the bottom line was the colleges cared much more about a Valedictorian that aced Home-Ec than a mathematical olypmpiad contender. They didn't give college credit for AP back then and I just had a mediocre GPA. Big woop!
Those guys will always spend brain power getting ahead. Geeks will suffer lower grades than they deserve and quietly trudge on.
So be it. It's about motivation. Statistically, the achievers achieve.
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1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
jtmbls, says:
The things we do for love...
Anonymous
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal
xdavidwattsx, says:
"My classes were all weighted the same, that didn't keep me from taking AP classes. If you pass the test, you get college credit. That's plenty of incentive. "
Quoted for truth.
Anonymous
1 year, 1 month agoLink to this comment | Suggest removal