Roos adds a post player...

[falconfan1]

61, Transfer answers all the questions quite well. We are not open admissions and reject for academic reasons x number of applicants. We are selective not highly selective. And Flip I know you weren't knocking Marist. I just was pointing out the basics there. The issues are generally w individual situations not college/guidance counselors especially at a school like that. The difference between UI and BG admissions policies for student-athletes would be......very very little difference. So the reference to the article w the UI transfer suddenly coming in etc is perhaps as germane as any "weighting"of courses. The key is that Leah Bolton is a dedicated student w obvious desire to succeed in the classroom and on the court. While no one can predict the future, she wants to be a Falcon and is fully admissible and fully eligible per NCAA standards.

Go Falcons!

[Class of 61]

61, Transfer answers all the questions quite well. We are not open admissions and reject for academic reasons x number of applicants. We are selective not highly selective. And Flip I know you weren't knocking Marist. I just was pointing out the basics there. The issues are generally w individual situations not college/guidance counselors especially at a school like that. The difference between UI and BG admissions policies for student-athletes would be......very very little difference. So the reference to the article w the UI transfer suddenly coming in etc is perhaps as germane as any "weighting"of courses. The key is that Leah Bolton is a dedicated student w obvious desire to succeed in the classroom and on the court. While no one can predict the future, she wants to be a Falcon and is fully admissible and fully eligible per NCAA standards.

Go Falcons!

FF1,
As usual, when we need the "skinny", you're around to provide it... By open admissions, I didn't mean BG took everyone; just seemed to be more "liberal" in accepting than some places I could name. And I'm looking forward to seeing this young lady play for us, as well as the 3 other freshmen. Guess I was reacting more to Flip's comments re: guidance counselors at Marist...I'm perhaps more sensitive to this as a retired counselor. But thanks for your usual enlightening updates.

[musicman2343]

Transfer,
Thanks for the updated info...just seemed a bit strange to me that Ill. rejected this kid while we took her... admittedly, we are still somewhat of an open admissions school (within reason of course), but I also agree that the weighted grades DO tend to mess up any school's standards. I recall (way back when) Garfield Hts. started granting weighted grades to kids taking Honors courses. Parents had put a lot of pressure on the schools to "recognize" their students' achievements in tougher than usual courses. But again, someone's 4.5 might be not as strong as someone else's 4.25, so confusion reigns as a result.

If I were the Education Czar for the day, I would -

1. Outlaw weighted grades

2. Institute the following grading scale -

A= 93-100
B= 85-92
C= 77-84
D= 70-76
F= 69 and below

3. Mandate a Minimum Admissions Requirement for admissions into the public universities

4 units of English
4 units of Mathematics (Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and an additional class Trigonometry/Analytical Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, or Statistics)
4 units of Science (Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and an additional lab science Biology II, Chemistry II, A&P, Astronomy, Physics)
4 units of Social Studies (to include US History and American Government)
3 units of Foreign Language (must be of ONE foreign language and ASL does not count)
1 unit of Fine Arts
2 units of Physical Education (participation in Band, Cheerleading, and Athletics does not count)

Completion of the above would not guarantee you admission to a public university, only that your application would be reviewed for admission. Failure to complete the MAR would mean a student would need to enroll at a private institution (spend more $$$$) or enroll at the local area community college.

4. I would mandate an attendance policy. A student misses more than 10 days in one school year (without valid medical exception) would not be promoted to the next grade and would be required to repeat the entire year.

I would also drop the term "Excused" from Absence. You are either PRESENT or ABSENT. If you are not PRESENT, then you are ABSENT. It's not really that hard.

Guess I don't have to worry about becoming a superintendent in a school district anytime soon.

As a teacher, I'm fine with all of the above except course requirements:

1 unit of PE
2 units of fine arts

Fine arts will always take you further than PE.

[bgsufalcon24]

Transfer,
Thanks for the updated info...just seemed a bit strange to me that Ill. rejected this kid while we took her... admittedly, we are still somewhat of an open admissions school (within reason of course), but I also agree that the weighted grades DO tend to mess up any school's standards. I recall (way back when) Garfield Hts. started granting weighted grades to kids taking Honors courses. Parents had put a lot of pressure on the schools to "recognize" their students' achievements in tougher than usual courses. But again, someone's 4.5 might be not as strong as someone else's 4.25, so confusion reigns as a result.

If I were the Education Czar for the day, I would -

1. Outlaw weighted grades

2. Institute the following grading scale -

A= 93-100
B= 85-92
C= 77-84
D= 70-76
F= 69 and below

3. Mandate a Minimum Admissions Requirement for admissions into the public universities

4 units of English
4 units of Mathematics (Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and an additional class Trigonometry/Analytical Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, or Statistics)
4 units of Science (Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and an additional lab science Biology II, Chemistry II, A&P, Astronomy, Physics)
4 units of Social Studies (to include US History and American Government)
3 units of Foreign Language (must be of ONE foreign language and ASL does not count)
1 unit of Fine Arts
2 units of Physical Education (participation in Band, Cheerleading, and Athletics does not count)

Completion of the above would not guarantee you admission to a public university, only that your application would be reviewed for admission. Failure to complete the MAR would mean a student would need to enroll at a private institution (spend more $$$$) or enroll at the local area community college.

4. I would mandate an attendance policy. A student misses more than 10 days in one school year (without valid medical exception) would not be promoted to the next grade and would be required to repeat the entire year.

I would also drop the term "Excused" from Absence. You are either PRESENT or ABSENT. If you are not PRESENT, then you are ABSENT. It's not really that hard.

Guess I don't have to worry about becoming a superintendent in a school district anytime soon.

If 90-92% in a class was a B instead of an A, about 80% of my A's in high school would've been B's instead. And coupling the loss of weighted grades...boy, some of my grades would be going from 5 point A's to 3 point B's for the exact same marks.

I don't disagree with most of your other plans here, especially those dealing with attendance and core courses needed, but your proposed method of grading would be enough for me to want to declare war on the entire system.

[transfer2BGSU]

If 90-92% in a class was a B instead of an A, about 80% of my A's in high school would've been B's instead. And coupling the loss of weighted grades...boy, some of my grades would be going from 5 point A's to 3 point B's for the exact same marks.

I don't disagree with most of your other plans here, especially those dealing with attendance and core courses needed, but your proposed method of grading would be enough for me to want to declare war on the entire system.

This was the grading scale used by the state of North Carolina when I taught in middle school. The high schools did not weight grades.

[ccollin13]

If 90-92% in a class was a B instead of an A, about 80% of my A's in high school would've been B's instead. And coupling the loss of weighted grades...boy, some of my grades would be going from 5 point A's to 3 point B's for the exact same marks.

I don't disagree with most of your other plans here, especially those dealing with attendance and core courses needed, but your proposed method of grading would be enough for me to want to declare war on the entire system.

This was the grading scale used by the state of North Carolina when I taught in middle school. The high schools did not weight grades.

I graduated from Genoa High School in 2006 and this is the grading scale that was used. I'm not sure if they still use it. At that time they did not weigh grades, either. An A was an A was an A. I'm not commenting on whether that system is worth it or not -- I don't have enough background in education to be able to decide that. Just wanted to point out that even locally these systems have been in recent use.

I participate on several message boards and it never ceases to baffle me how off-topic this board can get

[Lord_Byron]

If 90-92% in a class was a B instead of an A, about 80% of my A's in high school would've been B's instead. And coupling the loss of weighted grades...boy, some of my grades would be going from 5 point A's to 3 point B's for the exact same marks.

But you didn't learn any more because you got 5-point As or learn any less because they might be 3-point Bs. Your score would have been your score and you would have been compared to everyone else on the same scale.

[footballguy51]

If 90-92% in a class was a B instead of an A, about 80% of my A's in high school would've been B's instead. And coupling the loss of weighted grades...boy, some of my grades would be going from 5 point A's to 3 point B's for the exact same marks.

But you didn't learn any more because you got 5-point As or learn any less because they might be 3-point Bs. Your score would have been your score and you would have been compared to everyone else on the same scale.

Here are some issues with all of this, though.

1. If he got a 3-point B instead of a 5-point A, then his overall GPA would have dropped. Scholarships could have been lost. Now, my high school ran on the 93-100 is an A route as well, so I'm not complaining here, I'm just pointing out the fact that this ultimately would make a difference.

2. My high school gave 5-point A's for Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Every other course, including honors courses, were graded on the 4-point scale. Why was this done? There were several years, before the weighting started, that students that took regular courses and did well would be in the top 10 of their class over those who took more challenging courses. Now, if that's all that it was, then so what. The issue is that my high school gave out scholarships to the top 10 of each class. If I'm taking college prep courses (AP courses), then I'm going to be going to college. The student that doesn't take anything challenging might not be going to college. Which student should be getting the scholarship?

[mscarn]

It's all the more challenging because playing with the numbers still doesn't account for the real-world varience among instructors and their personal standards. A 95 or an A in one room could garner a much lower grade in another and vice versa.

[FalconTurf]

What difference does the grading scale make - 90 - 100 or 93-100 or 95-100?

What I think most straight-shooting common sense administrators and teachers will tell you is that you will have the same number of A's regardless of the scale with most teachers. Test/grading will be modified to meet the scale.

[factman]

I guess non of this would be a topic on the UT board! #theydon'tcareaboutgrades

[jg4242]

Transfer,
Thanks for the updated info...just seemed a bit strange to me that Ill. rejected this kid while we took her... admittedly, we are still somewhat of an open admissions school (within reason of course), but I also agree that the weighted grades DO tend to mess up any school's standards. I recall (way back when) Garfield Hts. started granting weighted grades to kids taking Honors courses. Parents had put a lot of pressure on the schools to "recognize" their students' achievements in tougher than usual courses. But again, someone's 4.5 might be not as strong as someone else's 4.25, so confusion reigns as a result.

If I were the Education Czar for the day, I would -

1. Outlaw weighted grades

2. Institute the following grading scale -

A= 93-100
B= 85-92
C= 77-84
D= 70-76
F= 69 and below

3. Mandate a Minimum Admissions Requirement for admissions into the public universities

4 units of English
4 units of Mathematics (Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and an additional class Trigonometry/Analytical Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, or Statistics)
4 units of Science (Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and an additional lab science Biology II, Chemistry II, A&P, Astronomy, Physics)
4 units of Social Studies (to include US History and American Government)
3 units of Foreign Language (must be of ONE foreign language and ASL does not count)
1 unit of Fine Arts
2 units of Physical Education (participation in Band, Cheerleading, and Athletics does not count)

Completion of the above would not guarantee you admission to a public university, only that your application would be reviewed for admission. Failure to complete the MAR would mean a student would need to enroll at a private institution (spend more $$$$) or enroll at the local area community college.

4. I would mandate an attendance policy. A student misses more than 10 days in one school year (without valid medical exception) would not be promoted to the next grade and would be required to repeat the entire year.

I would also drop the term "Excused" from Absence. You are either PRESENT or ABSENT. If you are not PRESENT, then you are ABSENT. It's not really that hard.

Guess I don't have to worry about becoming a superintendent in a school district anytime soon.

As a teacher, I'm fine with all of the above except course requirements:

1 unit of PE
2 units of fine arts

Fine arts will always take you further than PE.

I'm right with you, musicman! And band should absolutely count for a semester of P.E. Also, I'm going to jump on the weighted GPA bandwagon: They're horrible! Weighted GPA's are an advantage ONLY for average-performing kids who want to do nothing beyond the bare minimum. Unfortunately, they often have the loudest parents, which is why many schools have weighted GPA's.

[nwofalconfan]

Great news! Illinois's loss is BG's gain.

[transfer2BGSU]

As a teacher, I'm fine with all of the above except course requirements:

1 unit of PE
2 units of fine arts

Fine arts will always take you further than PE.

I'm right with you, musicman! And band should absolutely count for a semester of P.E. Also, I'm going to jump on the weighted GPA bandwagon: They're horrible! Weighted GPA's are an advantage ONLY for average-performing kids who want to do nothing beyond the bare minimum. Unfortunately, they often have the loudest parents, which is why many schools have weighted GPA's.

I understand what you two mean and in a former time, I would agree with you. But with the childhood obesity problems, that is why I would mandate the two units of Physical Education. A quarter credit each semester - need two units of credit to graduate means - - - Yep! You take a PE each semester for 8 semesters (or all four years).

And yes, marching band is a very physical program, but if I'm not going to count athletic participation as a PE, I can't count Band as a PE either (have to be consistent across the board).

[Flipper]

I love how this discussion has segued from Leah Bolton to academics to childhood obesity...FWIW, put me firmly in the camp of those who want as much PE...QUALITY PE...to be a part of elementary, JR High and HS as possible. We're quickly becoming a nation of putty-butts and we need to turn that around ASAP.