Making GPAs standard causes Texas ruckus

When high school seniors apply to college, they naturally want to have the highest grade-point average they can muster. That often means taking AP, honors and other courses that give extra points for each letter grade.

The Texas Higher Education commissioner says that high schools calculate GPAs in so many different ways, it has become confusing to colleges and universities. So he wants all Texas high schools to standardize their grading systems.

His proposal, the Dallas Morning News reports, includes eliminating extra credit for students who take pre-IB and pre-AP courses. He also wants to give credit, but no grade point, for vocational courses, as "they're mostly irrelevant to what universities do."

Students and school leaders across Texas are not amused.

"That really goes against rewarding students for challenging themselves, because if they're not going to see any advantage in the GPA calculation, many are going to opt for the less rigorous classes," Plano ISD superintendent Doug Otto told the Morning News.

So is this a good idea for Florida to follow, or a bad one for us to avoid? Let's hear it.

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Comments

[John]

Why not let an A be worth 4 points, a B worth 3 points, etc. All classes get grade points. Let the colleges the students are applying to decide if a student is worthy by looking at the transcript for things like Advanced Placement Physics w/Calculus or remedial underwater basketweaving. DO NOT add points to an AVERAGE, let the grades and transcripts speak for themselves.