Molly Baggett

MC 4005 Portfolio

Op-Ed Description:

This op-ed was written for a previous class where we had to find a current topic in the
local news and create a piece for a newspaper. The piece was written individually to inform
college students about the new grading system LSU planned to implement in the future.

New Grading System

The Student Government Association and the Faculty Senate have expressed negative views of
the new grading system that Louisiana State University plans to implement for the 2017-2018
school year. Many students feel the new system will only benefit and are beginning to express
their opinions to LSU administrators in hopes of canceling the new grading system and keep the
old system in place. Faculty members have also expressed concerns that hardworking students
will be negatively impacted because of the +/- grading system.

Anna Johnson, junior biology major at LSU, has become concerned with the new grading system
and the difference it will make on her GPA. Johnson hopes to attend medical school after she
graduates, but now feels like the +/- grading system could ruin her chances to be accepted in
such a competitive field. Although Johnson has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her college
career, an A- would ruin her GPA even though she still earned an A. Students that work hard and
make an effort to go to class and earn the A are now being punished because that A wasn’t good
enough.

Yes, students who earn a higher A are rewarded with a higher GPA value, but one grade could
bring that A+ (4.3) down to an A- (3.7). The old grading scale rewards students for their hard
work and does not take away points because the A wasn’t good enough. Many students and
faculty feel the grading scale does more harm than good. The old grading system rewarded
students equally without taking away GPA points because a student might have made a lower A
at some point during the semester. The +/- grading system doesn’t prove which student went to
class more or spent the most time studying, it only shows a test grade that is a large portion of
the overall grade. One student could make low A’s on tests with high A’s in participation points
or homework assignments while another may have high A’s on tests and very low grades for
participation points and assignments, just because tests are worth more of the overall grade
doesn’t mean one student completely earned an A+ in the class.
The Student Government Association conducted a poll amongst students that showed almost 93
percent of students were against the new grading system. The participants stated that the main
reason they were not supporters of the new system was because they felt that the scale would
only benefit a small fraction of students. Surveyors asked if they would feel differently if they
were guaranteed to receive an A+ in a class and 88 percent still felt negatively about the new
grading system.
Written document, against new grading scale, example, surveys

Molly Baggett