Various schools throughout Texas have moved to a grading scale where only four AP classes count toward extra grade points. This system is a good model of what our schools should move toward.
If this type of system were put in place, the “GPA race” would be more than just scheduling and figuring out which classes are going to boost your grade. The top 10 will still be the same kids who always make those top grades, but there will also be room for exploration of other classes if students so desire. The kids who say they are taking extra AP classes to benefit from them in college will still be able to take those classes and benefit from them, just without an extra grade point for more than four APs.
Sure GPA is about choices, but the choices GPA should be about shouldn’t be refined from the question “Am I going to give up a passion of photography or basketball for extra AP classes?” The choices should be centered on whether or not you study, not whether or not you give up something you love in order to earn a higher GPA.
While grades are important, they are not everything. A 4.28 is really not that big of a difference from a 4.67 in the big picture. Does that mean be lazy and give up assignments? No. Does it mean give up on studying? No. But you can’t tear yourself up over a number and a comparison to classmates. Grades don’t necessarily show how much a student knows or how hard they’ve worked to get the grade they have. High GPA is due 50 percent to planning out a schedule of GPA boosting classes and 50 percent to the grades made in those classes.
The argument that GPA is good because it gives students competitiveness and builds their work ethic which can be taken into a work place is an invalid argument. There are plenty of students who work really hard, but no matter what they do, their grades will never be even close to that of the valedictorian. Now, I’m not saying that these people should be valedictorian, but what I am saying is those kids have the work ethic without the GPA race. They know what it is to struggle, they’ve had to work as hard as they can at everything in school…and they’ve overcome. That is going to be a more beneficial life skill to them in a work place than giving the Valedictorian speech. GPA builds competitiveness? Sure it does. But so does football and basketball and all the other sports. GPA builds work ethic? Sure it does. But making B’s when you’re a C student builds work ethic more than a student who is and always has been an A student and never has to study. GPA doesn’t really build leadership. Being elected FFA president? That builds leadership. Being in charge of a newspaper staff? That builds leadership. Being in the top 10 is a huge honor and I am in no way trying to undermine the work those top students put into getting where they are because I know they have worked hard. What I am saying is that GPA is not everything. It’s a game that students get caught up in.
If the grade system is changed to where only four classes count as 5.0’s, then students have the opportunity to be more well rounded while still being rewarded for their high grades. They can explore things that they’ve never tried before: cooking, photography, journalism, soccer, acting, art, choir, guitar…you never know if a class that you take in high school may lead you to a new passion. For me it did. And if all you take is AP classes to reach that GPA, you may miss out on reaching and pursuing that passion.