Henrico County Public Schools Transcript Study - Class Rank
Henrico County Public Schools Transcript Study - Class Rank
Henrico County Public Schools Transcript Study - Class Rank
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<strong>Henrico</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Schools</strong> <strong>Transcript</strong> <strong>Study</strong><br />
Analyses of Potential Grading Policy Change Effects on <strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong><br />
March 19, 2013<br />
At the request of the HCPS Grading Practices Committee, an analysis was conducted to examine<br />
the effect of implementing a 10 point grading scale with a 1.0 weighting system for advanced<br />
courses on high school class rank. For these analyses, high school grades at the end of grade 11<br />
from the 2013 senior class were used from one high school representing the diversity of the<br />
<strong>Henrico</strong> <strong>County</strong> student population. Since percent grades were required to be converted to a 10<br />
point scale, students with transfer credits were excluded, because percent grades were not<br />
available in the transcript system. Overall, 251 transcripts were included in the study.<br />
Analysis 1: <strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong> Change Comparing the Current Grading System (7-point scale<br />
with .17 weighting for advanced courses) to a 10 point Grading System with 1.0 Weighting<br />
for All Advanced Courses (Honors/AP/IB)<br />
Using the current grading/weighting system, class rankings in the sample ranged from 1 – 241<br />
and the average GPA was 2.789. <strong>Rank</strong>ings using the 10 point grading system with 1.0 weighting<br />
for all advanced courses ranged from 1 – 244 with an average GPA of 3.133. This was<br />
statistically significant and higher than with the current grading system, t(250) = -29.12, p <<br />
.001.<br />
Overall, comparing the class ranks between the two systems, 65.7% of student rankings<br />
increased or remained unchanged when the 10 point grading scale and 1.0 weighting system was<br />
applied. The mean change in ranking was 2.47 suggesting that, on average, students moved up<br />
in their ranking by about 2 ranks (i.e., moving from #10 to #8). The greatest changes in class<br />
rank were seen among students currently within the 26-50 th and 76-100 th percentile ranges (see<br />
Table 1). Within these ranges, 71.4% and 74.2% of student class rankings would increase or<br />
experience no change if the 10 point grading scale with 1.0 advanced course (Honors/AP/IB)<br />
weighting was applied.<br />
Table 1: Change in class rank applying the 10 point grading scale with the 1.0 advanced course<br />
weighting system compared with the current 7 point grading scale with .17 weighting system for<br />
advanced courses<br />
<strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong> Percentile with Current Grading/Weighting<br />
System<br />
0-25th<br />
Percentile<br />
26-50th<br />
Percentile<br />
51-75th<br />
Percentile<br />
76 -100th<br />
Percentile<br />
Average class rank change with 10<br />
point grading scale and 1.0<br />
advanced course weighting<br />
applied -0.079 4.413 1.810 3.758<br />
Percentage of increased/no change<br />
class ranks with 10 point grading<br />
scale and 1.0 advanced course<br />
weighting applied<br />
49.2%<br />
(31/63)<br />
71.4%<br />
(45/63)<br />
68.3%<br />
(43/63)<br />
74.2%<br />
(46/62)<br />
1 <strong>Henrico</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Schools</strong>
Analysis 2: <strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong> Change Comparing the Current Grading System (7-point scale<br />
with .17 weighting for advanced courses) to a 10 point Grading System with Differentiated<br />
Weighting Advanced Courses (0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP/IB)<br />
<strong>Class</strong> ranks applying the 10 point grading scale with differentiated weighting for advanced<br />
courses (0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP/IB) resulted in a rank range of 1 – 245 with a mean GPA<br />
of 3.071. This mean GPA was statistically significant and higher than the mean GPA with the<br />
current grading/weighting system (M =2.789), t(250) = -17.80, p < .001.<br />
Comparing the class ranks between the two systems, 49.4% of student rankings increased or<br />
remained unchanged when the 10 point grading scale and differentiated weighting system was<br />
applied. The mean change in ranking was -0.661, which indicates that, on average, rankings<br />
decreased when the 10 point grading scale with differentiated weighting for advanced courses<br />
was applied. Greater changes in class rank were found within the 0-25 th and 51-75 th percentile<br />
ranges (see Table 2). Within these ranges, less than half of the student class rankings would<br />
experience no change or an increase; whereas, within the 26-50 th and 76-100 th percentile ranges,<br />
more than half of the class rankings would increase or stay the same.<br />
Table 2: Change in class rank applying the 10 point grading scale with the differentiated<br />
advanced course weighting system (0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP/IB) compared with the current<br />
7 point grading scale with .17 weighting system for advanced courses<br />
<strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong> Percentile with Current Grading/Weighting<br />
System<br />
0-25th<br />
Percentile<br />
26-50th<br />
Percentile<br />
51-75th<br />
Percentile<br />
76 -100th<br />
Percentile<br />
Average class rank change with 10<br />
point grading scale and<br />
differentiated advanced course<br />
weighting applied -2.508 1.048 -1.508 0.339<br />
Percentage of increased/no change<br />
class ranks with 10 point grading<br />
scale and differentiated advanced<br />
course weighting applied<br />
36.5%<br />
(23/63)<br />
50.8%<br />
(32/63)<br />
47.6%<br />
(30/63)<br />
62.9%<br />
(39/62)<br />
2 <strong>Henrico</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Schools</strong>
Analysis 3: <strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong> Change Comparing the 10 point Grading System with 1.0<br />
Advanced Course Weighting (1.0 for Honors/AP/IB) to the 10 point Grading System with<br />
the Differentiated Weighting System for Advanced Courses (0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for<br />
AP/IB)<br />
Recall that applying the 10 point grading scale with 1.0 weighting system for all advanced<br />
courses (Honors/AP/IB) resulted in a class rank range of 1 – 244 with a mean GPA of 3.133 and<br />
that applying the 10 point grading scale with the differentiated weighting system resulted in a<br />
class rank range of 1 – 245 with a mean GPA of 3.071. An analysis of the mean differences was<br />
conducted using a paired samples t-test and results indicated that the average GPA applying the<br />
1.0 weighting system was significantly higher than with the differentiated weighting system, t<br />
(250) = 11.39, p < .001.<br />
Comparing the class ranks between the two systems, 14.3% of student rankings increased or<br />
remained unchanged when the differentiated weighting system was applied in comparison to the<br />
1.0 weighting system. The average change in class ranking was -3.132 suggesting that, on<br />
average, students moved down in their ranking by about 3 ranks (i.e., moving from #10 to #13)<br />
with the differentiated weighting system. Greater changes were found among class ranks in the<br />
26 th percentile and above. Within the sample, all class ranks among those below the 25 th<br />
percentile decreased when the differentiated weighting system was applied in comparison to the<br />
1.0 weighting system. Twenty-two percent of class ranks among those in the 51 st percentile and<br />
above increased or remained unchanged with the differentiated weighting applied.<br />
Table 3: Change in class rank applying the 10 point grading scale with the 1.0 advanced course<br />
(Honors/AP/IB) weighting system compared with the differentiated weighting system for<br />
advanced courses (0.5 for Honors and 1.0 for AP/IB)<br />
<strong>Class</strong> <strong>Rank</strong> Percentile with 10 point Grading Scale and<br />
1.0 Weighting System<br />
0-25th<br />
Percentile<br />
26-50th<br />
Percentile<br />
51-75th<br />
Percentile<br />
76 -100th<br />
Percentile<br />
Average class rank change with 10<br />
point grading scale and<br />
differentiated advanced course<br />
weighting applied -2.397 -3.313 -3.403 -3.419<br />
Percentage of increased/no change<br />
class ranks with 10 point grading<br />
scale and differentiated advanced<br />
course weighting applied<br />
0%<br />
(0/63)<br />
12.5%<br />
(8/64)<br />
25.8%<br />
(16/62)<br />
19.4%<br />
(12/62)<br />
3 <strong>Henrico</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Schools</strong>
Summary of Findings<br />
• When compared to the current grading/weighting system, the application of the 10 point<br />
grading scale along with the 1.0 advanced course weighting (1.0 for Honors/AP/IB)<br />
would result in 65.7% of class rankings increasing or remaining unchanged. Greater<br />
positive changes would be noted among students currently within the 26-50 th and 76–<br />
100 th percentile ranges.<br />
• When compared to the current grading/weighting system, the application of the 10 point<br />
grading scale along with the differentiated advanced course weighting (0.5 for Honors<br />
and 1.0 for AP/IB) would result in 49.4% of class rankings increasing or remaining<br />
unchanged. Greater negative changes would be noted among students currently within<br />
the 0–25 th and 51-75 th percentile ranges.<br />
• When comparing the application of the 10 point grading scale with 1.0 advanced course<br />
weighting to the 10 point grading scale with the differentiated advanced course<br />
weighting, 14.3% of student rankings would increase or remain unchanged with the<br />
differentiated weighting applied than with the 1.0 weighting.<br />
4 <strong>Henrico</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Schools</strong>
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