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I work for an affluent district and one of the arguments parents give me for pushing their child's grade up is that this is (insert district name here)!! A As if that means there should be more A's given. My thoughts are that A's should be harder to get in a better district. I'm trying to come up with a good argument for the parents. I think giving more A's because we're a better district means we're watering down what it means to get an A. To me, our being a better district means that a B+ in our district stands equal to an A in the next district over not that we give more A's. Parents, however, seem to think we should give more A's.
What are your thoughts and how would you argue this one with the parents? Out of 146 students, I gave 17 A's. I think that's plenty but I have several parents complaining that their child got an A- or B+ and should have gotten an A because "This is (insert district name here)". IMO, an A in our district should be better than an A in the next district over because our students are more capable. How do I win this one with the parents?
Well, you could point out that an A from a top notch school such as GA Tech ( or insert a good college from your area) is much harder to attain than an A from a community college. I don't see why it should be different in a good HS.
Do you see an "A" as an objective symbol of mastery of a subject? Or do you see an "A" as a more subjective symbol of being better than X amount of students in your class?
I only ask this because if someone has genuinely acheived an "A" level of mastery objectively speaking it doesn't seem like they should be penalized. However, if an "A" only exists as compared to other students, then there should be a fixed amount of As.
This is acutally a big issue with ivy league colleges. Princeton has a set curve which in a sense penalizes their students vis a vis Harvard and other ivy league schools without a rigid curve.
What you could say to the parents (assuming that it is the truth) is that college admissions officers are familiar with the rigors of the district and evaluate students accordingly.
I think that it should be harder to get an A if the school's reputation is better and if the students are more prepared. However, because the students are more motivated, there will be more A's.
When I taught second grade (yes, we gave letter grades) there was one year that my students earned mostly A's and B's. It was a small class, they were well prepared, loved learning, and went beyond any of my previous classes. So the bar was high, but the kids jumped higher.
When I switched schools (and grade levels, to junior high) I discovered the same thing you have experienced this year - and it was hard, that first year, to find the balance. I think, in your case, there is nothing wrong with 17 A's, especially since that doesn't include A-'s. An A should never be a gift grade or a mercy grade. After you have been at the school a couple years and have a good reputation, you won't deal with as much of this. Students (even more than parents) will understand the value of an A, and those who achieve it will be rightly proud of it.
I would expect that your students earned a lot more B's and a lot fewer D's than at your previous school.
I work for an affluent district and one of the arguments parents give me for pushing their child's grade up is that this is (insert district name here)!! A As if that means there should be more A's given. My thoughts are that A's should be harder to get in a better district. I'm trying to come up with a good argument for the parents. I think giving more A's because we're a better district means we're watering down what it means to get an A. To me, our being a better district means that a B+ in our district stands equal to an A in the next district over not that we give more A's. Parents, however, seem to think we should give more A's.
What are your thoughts and how would you argue this one with the parents? Out of 146 students, I gave 17 A's. I think that's plenty but I have several parents complaining that their child got an A- or B+ and should have gotten an A because "This is (insert district name here)". IMO, an A in our district should be better than an A in the next district over because our students are more capable. How do I win this one with the parents?
You can't really win this with the parents. If you have parents who complain you need to show them the actual grades their child earned and tell them that you don't give grades, you simply record the grades the students earn.
I do not subscribe to the theory that grades have anything to do with how good a school or district is.
I would just smile and say that their child earned the grade they got and not say anything else. In my son's HS the kids know which teachers are the hard graders. It's just going to take a little while for everyone to know your standards. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of bell curve with grading, something like 20% of the students should get A's or D's and 59% get B's or C's and 1% Fail?
First, Ivory, I thought you worked in a low income school based on your reports of the quality of your school Second, I wasn't aware that teachers gave grades, I always thought that students EARNED grades.
I think schools that have too many 4.0's graduating are suffering from grade inflation and not enough challenging material. I would think the total OPPOSITE that if a school reports too many students with A average that the school isn't working hard enough and I would be very hesitant to send my child there.
I would just smile and say that their child earned the grade they got and not say anything else. In my son's HS the kids know which teachers are the hard graders. It's just going to take a little while for everyone to know your standards. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of bell curve with grading, something like 20% of the students should get A's or D's and 59% get B's or C's and 1% Fail?
I always felt there should be an objective standard to get a certain grade. If everyone can earn an A, fine, everyone gets an A (I have never had a class like that).
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Second, I wasn't aware that teachers gave grades, I always thought that students EARNED grades. 
