By HiLite Staff

The 2010-2011 school year marks new changes in the grading period as this school moves to four nine-week grading periods instead of six six-week grading periods.

This divides the school year into nine-week quarters. In this new system, each nine-week grading period will be worth 40 percent of the semester grade and the final exam will be worth 20 percent.

The nine-week grading periods will allow consistency in the grading system between Carmel High School and other schools and school districts. Middle schools in the district use the nine-week grading period and Carmel High School is the only public high school in Hamilton County to not use the nine-week grading period.

The new grading periods will also ease the transition for students both coming to and preparing to leave this school. This change may make the middle school to high school transition easier, as the school will use the same grading system incoming freshmen used as eighth graders in middle school.

It may also allow for an easier transition for the seniors when they go to college, since most colleges use a similar grading system.

With longer grading periods, large tests and projects may be more evenly spaced out.

Teachers may feel less pressure to add on certain grades at the end of a six weeks and students will have more time to make up tests and quizzes.

They will also have more time to improve their grades during a grading period because they will have nine instead of six weeks. The longer periods of time allow for a greater number of tests and quizzes, so one failed test or quiz will have a lesser impact on a nine-week grading period.

However, while a test will have less impact on a nine-week grading period, the nine-week grading period will have more impact on a student’s semester grade since each grading period is now worth one-fifth of a semester grade instead of one-sixth.

This means poor performance in a nine-week grading period will have a greater impact on a student’s semester grade than a six-week grading period did.

Some teachers and students previously saw the first six weeks as almost a trial period as students see what they are capable of.

However, with a nine-week grading period, each grading period will have a larger influence on semester grades, which will force students and teachers to end this outlook.

Final exams will also have more weight under the new system. Formerly making up only one-seventh of a semester grade, it will now be worth one-fifth of a semester grade.

While this does put more pressure on students during finals week, it may also motivate students to study harder for final exams because it is now worth more of their semester grade.

Students who struggled during a six-week grading period may have had a greater opportunity to improve their grade than they will under the new system since students will have fewer chances for a fresh start when the school year is divided into quarters instead of sixths.

A nine-week grading period may also impact student motivation. The knowledge that each grading period has a larger impact a their grade and that there are fewer chances for a fresh start may cause some students to become more motivated and to study harder.

However, longer grading periods may also mean students who performed well during the beginning of the nine weeks may not work as hard at the end of a grading period since individual tests and quizzes have less weight.

Teachers and parents may also worry that students will have a harder time to maintain concentration and remain motivated through a nine-week grading period than during a shorter six-week grading period.

Additionally, switching to a nine-week grading period also means report cards come only four times a year instead of six. A fewer number of report cards may cause less communication between parents and teachers concerning grades.

While myCCS allows students and their parents to access grades online, report cards give parents additional information about their students besides grades, such as teacher comments on performance. Fewer report cards will mean fewer of these comments and information from teachers to parents.

Nevertheless, grading periods are only a measurement of a student’s academic performance and should be treated as such.
The outcome of each grading period, whether it be nine weeks or six weeks, should and still does rest with the student.