Picture this: You take your last bite of lunch and rush to your mailbox, finding a rolled-up piece of paper waiting for you. Snatching the paper, you anxiously unravel it, only to see a bold “8” staring into your soul because of a tiny mistake. An oft-asked question pops into your head—why isn’t there a “9” in Standards-Based Grading (SBG)?

The frustration about 9s is a common debate that lingers in the halls of Latin, sparking confusion among students who wonder why the grading scale seems to skip a number that could make all the difference.

At the heart of this controversy is SBG, a system designed to assess students based on their mastery of specific concepts rather than traditional point-based grading. Latin adopted the framework to deepen understanding and eliminate inconsistencies in percentage-based grading. The scale includes four main scores: 10 (indicating mastery), 8 (approaching mastery with minor errors), 6 (partial understanding), and 5 (no understanding).

I have a love-hate relationship with SBG. I can appreciate that it prioritizes mastery rather than a one-and-done approach, allowing me to improve my understanding instead of being penalized for early mistakes. It acknowledges growth, which feels more fair than a system that permanently locks in low scores from the start.

The recent shift in the grading system is a step in the right direction. This year, the grading system shifted to weigh the most recent assessment as 60%, the second most recent as 30%, and the average of the rest as 10%. I believe that the new approach is an improvement over the previous system, which considered only the last two assessments, ignoring all prior work on the learning objective.

The issue with SBG lies in the drastic point drops. As listed previously, the possible grades to receive on an assessment are 10, 8, 6, and 5. Even the slightest mistake can drop you from a 10 to an 8, which is excessive and unfair.

The absence of a 9 only makes this problem worse. Without it, there’s no middle ground to differentiate between students who are achieving mastery and those who have noticeable gaps in their understanding. An 8 can represent anything from “almost perfect” to “solid but flawed,” yet the grading system treats all 8s the same, raising my concern about SBG’s rigid jumps in scores.

Upper School science teacher Jonty Faulkner believes that the excessive drop between a 10 and an 8 is justified. “The spirit of SBG is to show that students can demonstrate a growing command of the learning going on,” he said. “My worry with adding a 9 into the mix is that it increases the subjectivity of the grading and may lead to similar situations being treated differently. At the end of the day, if you have a command of the learning, you get a 10.”

While I understand Mr. Faulkner’s concern, I believe this steep and punishing grading scale fails to account for the nuances of student performance. A single error should not equate to a 20% drop, especially when the difference between mastery and approaching mastery can be so little. SBG emphasizes progression, but the lack of a 9 disregards that learning should be seen as a spectrum.

Sophomore Peter Pinto expressed a similar concern with the grading system. “Having a 9 would make the grading system more balanced,” he said. “Right now, there’s a big jump between a 10 and an 8, and a 9 could help reflect the differences in performance more fairly.”

Other students agree, echoing Peter’s frustration around SBG’s persistent demand for perfection. Sophomore Lilah Small said, “I think that it isn't fair that if you miss a little thing that you get an 8. “It just doesn’t make sense. I don't understand why if you forget to add units you automatically get an 8.”

Junior Daisy Kreuger said, “I think there should be 9s, because you either get a 100% or an 80%, and I think there should be in-between.”

The debate over including a 9 in SBG grading is ongoing, reflecting broader questions about how Latin assesses and rewards learning. While many argue that the system promotes consistency, I believe it lacks nuance.

The decision to adjust the grading scale could significantly affect how students view their educational journey at Latin. For now, though, the absence of a 9 isn’t just an annoying detail—it’s a consequential flaw that bothers me every time I see that big, bothersome 8 staring back at me.