CMCSS Grading Scale

This petition originates out of the perceived need for Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) to adopt a grading scale similar to the vast majority of schools in surrounding states, colleges, and universities. CMCSS follows the State Of Tennessee's Uniform Grading Scale (https://tn.gov/assets/entities/sbe/attachments/1-30-15-III_B_Uniform_Grading_Policy_Attachment.pdf) which is primarily driven by the Tennessee Lottery Hope Scholarship. The grading scale is 93-100 A | 85-92 B | 75-84 C | 70-74 D | 69 and below F. While this is a higher standard than surrounding states, which is considered a good thing, it can really hurt CMCSS high school students when it comes to colleges looking at their grade point average (GPA). In surrounding states (Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi) the predominate grading scale is the 10-point scale - 90-100 A | 80-89 B | 70-79 C | 60-69 D | 59 and below F. In my daughter's case she finished her junior year with exactly a 3.5 GPA. Based on her actual number grades if she were a high school student in Alabama she would have a 3.73 GPA which is quite a difference. It's easy to see that it puts CMCSS students at a disadvantage versus students in other school districts.

I am not sure if the grading scale used by CMCSS is used throughout Tennessee. In Williamson county just this last school year they changed their grading scale to put their students on a more level playing field with students in other states. Please read the following link - http://www.wcs.edu/wp-content/pdf/BoardPolicies/4600.pdf . Also as an illustration Williamson County and Metro-Davidson schools provide a weighted GPA. Please read the following link - http://www.wsmv.com/story/19089100/metro-schools-announce-new-grading-for-high-schools .

During a conversation with CMCSS's Lead Counselor I was informed that the school district has the ability to have a secondary grading scale on official transcripts.

I understand the grading scale requirements for the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship and am not requesting this be changed. I am simply wanting to start discussion on what would be better for CMCSS high school students.

Since the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship can only be used for Tennessee colleges and universities it has no value for any high school student that choses to attend college out of state which is the case for my daughter.

What this boils down to is post-secondary education. CMCSS prides itself on graduation rate but in today's world it can be very important to get a post-secondary degree. For example, say there’s a student with a GPA of 3.48 on the CMCSS grading scale. Let’s image they want to attend the University of Alabama. With the 3.48 GPA the maximum academic scholarship the student could be awarded from the University of Alabama would be $18,000/year. Yet on the 10-point grading scale that every state surrounding Tennessee uses that student would have a 3.70 GPA, which would allow the student to get an even higher scholarship of $24,000/year. In this scenario the only difference between those two levels of scholarships is the different grading scales. Now think of how colleges and universities view this. The institution doesn’t know the grading scale used for the student’s GPA, they only see the 3.48 GPA on the transcript. So in the end the student loses out on a total of $32,000 worth of scholarship money simply because they are on the CMCSS grading scale. Imagine a low-income family with a child just under the GPA requirements unable to receive a full scholarship simply due to an unequal grading scale.

Most colleges and universities use the GPA/grading scale from the originating high school. This is why it's important to raise this issue. Obviously other school districts in Tennessee have already seen the need to take a look at their grading scales.

Please help the students of CMCSS by signing this petition. It's incumbent on all parents to take their children's education seriously.