Latin’s English Department recently announced that the grading system for all English courses will be rewritten starting in the fall of 2025. Next school year, the English Department will move away from modal grading into an average-based grading system, and juniors will be able to receive an earned honors credit.
The new grading system will still use standards-based grading, but instead of modal grading, scores will now be averaged within each standard. These averages will then be combined into a final grade, where Academic Habits are worth 10%. Major assessments, such as essays or large projects, will be worth 60% of the final grade, and minor assessments, such as an analytical paragraph, will be worth 30%.
The initial aim of standards-based assessments (SBA) was to emphasize a student’s mastery over time. However, a complete shift to mastery-based grading never occurred. English Department Chair Kate Lorber-Crittenden shared the reasoning for the changes.
“The goal of mastery-based grading is to show that a student understands the subject by the end, so it makes sense that many people would [earn] it. But at the end of the day, we're also translating that into a letter grade. So we have really bad grade inflation, and I think SBA has contributed to that,” Ms. LC said.
With SBA, students can reassess on every standard many times, which created the high grade inflation. The switch from modal to average grading for each standard and the English Department’s focus on decreasing grade inflation have prompted anxiety for students over the future of their English grades. This year, the average of all scores within standards needed for an A was above a 3.8 out of 4.
“I think that an A being classified as a 3.8 and above might be a little bit ambitious,” sophomore Genevieve Ramsey said. “I recognize the amount of grade inflation that the English Department has because of the modular grading, but that feels too ambitious using averages.”
Ms. LC noted that the 3.8 being an A will likely change, but the exact number has not been confirmed yet.
“After meeting with the Student Academic Board, we are making some adjustments, including tweaking the scale,” Ms. LC said. “We are glad to have student input before rolling into next year.”
The English Department is set on creating a system that balances fairness to students with some more rigor to address grade inflation.
The English Department is “not trying to create something that is unattainable,” Ms. LC said. “We are trying to recognize that we have really inflated grades, and that we've been working within a system that has worsened this.”
Although Genevieve was skeptical of the new grading system, she expressed different feelings toward the addition of earned honors credit to English 11.
“I think that adding an honors portion for [English 11] is a great idea, because I feel like our school is mainly centered around STEM programs, and this gives a great opportunity for kids who focus on the humanities and English,” Genevieve said.
The English Department’s goals for implementing earned honors credit centered around this idea. Latin’s course offerings include a number of Honors and AP math, science, and language courses, yet those opportunities are not mirrored within the English curriculum.
Ms. LC said, “It's time that we really consider how we help our kids in humanities classes really shine and make it so their transcript can communicate that, especially because English is the only subject that you're required to take all four years.”
In shaping the earned honors opportunity for next year, the English Department has analyzed the history earned honors credit system for any benefits or faults.
Junior Graham Snyder shared one area of improvement for the History Department’s current system: “It feels like earned honors hurts kids who don’t get it more than it helps kids who do, just because it feels like so many people get earned honors,” he said.
The goal of the English Department’s honors credit is to require a significant commitment throughout the year with consistent, strong performances.
Ms. LC explained how students seeking English earned honors credit will need to actively pursue this opportunity: “We want people to do this with intention. Like, ‘AP Bio is not the place for me to do this. English is really my thing. I want to take that chance there. I'm really [going to] go for this,’” she said. “It’s more powerful to choose one thing to put your time into than a bunch of other things.”
The new earned honors credit for English, however, is a disappointment to some rising seniors, who will be unable to partake in this system.
“I really enjoy the earned honors program for history, and I am glad it is being transferred to English,” junior Timothy Kempton said. “I wish that I could have had the opportunity to earn it this year or the year before.”
The English Department decided against implementing the earned honors credit into senior courses because the classes are only a semester long, and because the credit system has not been tested yet.
“It's complicated, because [seniors’] transcripts will go out to schools in the fall after the first semester,” Ms. LC said. “We're not going to be able to execute [earned honors credit] with seniors, where the courses are only a semester long, before we run it in a class where we can really test it out.”
As the English Department prepares to implement these changes, students and faculty alike will watch closely to see how the new system impacts both grading and learning. The English Department, meanwhile, aims to ensure that each student’s achievements are accurately reflected.
“With all students in mixed classrooms, honors and [non-honors], we are aiming for ways for kids to be challenged by each other and support each other,” Ms. LC said. “It hopefully provides a much richer classroom with a mixed learning environment.”
