Academic Grading in the USA
Academic grading in North America
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Academic grading
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North America
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v d e
Academic grading in North America varies from country to country and even within countries.
Contents [hide]
1 United States
2 Canada
2.1 Percentage-based grading
3 Mexico
[edit]United States
Main article: Academic grading in the United States
The most commonly used index in the U.S. educational system uses five letter grades. Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest. In the mid-twentieth century, many American educational institutions—especially in the Midwest (particularly the State of Michigan)—began to use the letters A, B, C, D, and E. The only difference here is that failure is denoted by E instead of F, which is not used by these schools. By comparison, the grade E is sometimes used in Canada as a conditional failing grade. No grades awarded on American quality indices are conditional, except special grades like I (Incomplete) and Y (course on non-traditional calendar, assigned to regular term in which the student enrolled in the course).
The A–F (A–E) quality index is typically quantified by correlation to a five-point numerical scale as follows:
Chromatic variants, represented by + and −, are commonly used. They are most commonly quantified as x.3 and y.7, e.g., B = 3.0, so B+ = 3.3 and B− = 2.7). A few institutions use only a single midpoint between the major points on the scale; that is, they regard an A− as effectively the same grade as B+. In those cases, an AB replaces the options of A- and B+ and is quantified as 3.5; a BC replaces B− and C+, with a value of 2.5; and a CD replaces C−/D+, worth 1.5. This approach is unusual and is most notably typified by institutions in the state of Wisconsin.
The grade A+ is a novelty in American education. The minority of institutions that use it may quantify the grade as 4.3 or 4.5, but many of them quantify A+ as 4.0 on the theory that a 4.0 scale cannot go higher than 4.0. By convention, quantitative scales are called by the highest whole number, so there is—at least, conventionally—no such scale based on 4.3 or 4.5, but it is still a 4.0 or 4-point scale because the fraction is ignored in naming the scale. D- is also rarely found, under the assumption that anything less than a D is by definition failure.
American high schools and universities sometimes weight their GPAs.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, many primary schools began to employ quasi-eccentric quality indices in which E, historically a failing grade, was recast to represent "Excellent." Similarly, the graduate business school at the University of Michigan awards the grade X to represent "Excellent." (Please see the section on The E-S-N-U system.)
American high schools typically require a 1.0 grade point average to qualify to take a diploma. The industry standard for undergraduate institutions is a minimum 2.0 average. Most graduate schools have required a 3.0 grade point average since 1975 (the transition began two decades earlier), but some schools still have 2.75 as their pass standard. Some doctoral programs do not have a formal pass standard. For example, the Michigan Doctorate, conferred by the Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan, is awarded solely on the basis of competence in research. It is unlikely, however, that the University of Michigan would retain a student who was doing work below 'B' quality, even though the grade point average is technically irrelevant to conferment of the degree.
American law schools are notoriously out of step with mainstream graduate-level education. Most of them still require no more than a 2.0 grade point average to qualify for the professional doctorate in law. A few require 2.3 or 2.5 for post-doctoral degrees, such as the American LL.M. or S.J.D. degrees. Law schools also typically continue to award the grade D whereas the industry standard is to eliminate it from the graduate-level quality index.
Apart from law schools, graduate schools in some states (California among them) continue to award the grade D in graduate school, despite having a 3.0 degree pass standard — measured against which a D (1.0) is normally considered superfluous, because even B− (2.7 or 2.5) is a failing grade in most graduate schools. Most high schools and elementary schools have "high honor" and "honor" rolls. High honor roll is received by achieving all As (9.0-7.0) and honor roll is received by achieving no grade lower than a B-(4.0) at any given time between quarters or semesters.
[edit]Canada