Are D's being extinct from report cards?

Schools starting pretty soon, and let’s say you read only half the summer reading required. You take the quiz and… and you almost failed. Your teacher told you that you got a 68% and received an “F”. With shock, you furiously told him that it is clearly a letter “D” grade instead of an “F”. Your teacher smiled back at you only to say “tough luck kid, we don’t believe in D’s anymore…the grading system is now A’s then B’s then C’s then F’s…so try harder!”

Is this fair? Are schools really enforcing the D-policy?

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Before we're use to seeing D's as a passing grade, but at Mount Olive High School...
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... D's = F's

Today, more and more school districts are adapting to the no D-policy. Starting this fall, districts such as “Mount Olive” in New Jersey won’t allow D’s in report cards, only A’s, B’s, C’s and F’s. The no D-policy had lead to many arguments from students to teachers to parents. A student from Mount Olive high school said “I really don’t like it, if you’re a little bit less than a C, but not quite an F, you’re still going to fail. Some kids aren’t at that level yet. They aren’t able to get that upper grade.” Many teachers also argued that there might be more students failing their classes due to the high standard. Once the standard is set higher, the possibility of more students failing is greater which can cause many negative effects to our society. Since more students have a greater chance failing, more students would not graduate, and if students can’t graduate, they won’t be able to find a decent job to support themselves or their family.

However, some parents disagree and are happy about the new D-policy because they think it’ll give their kids more motivation to perform well at school. Max Werner (president of the school board) said “People are going to have to try harder, it’s not like a nice college is going to see all D’s on a report card and want to accept that student.” If the standard is set higher, students will get more motivated to perform well, which can lead them to a better college and a brighter future. Many people have their opinions about the new D-policy and whether or not you agree or disagree, the new system will take affect this fall at Mount Olive High School District. Students who fail to reach 70 percent in any classes will result in “extra-needed help” classes or extra tutoring.

Although I like the plan under the D-policy, I disagree with the idea because I think the negative effects greatly surpass the positives’. There are many kids out there who only thrive for “D’s” because it’s good enough for them to graduate and at least find a decent job to support themselves and maybe their family. If many students aren’t able to graduate under the D-policy, it’ll be significantly difficult for high school drop-outs to find a job since now a day more jobs require at least a high school diploma. If more students can’t find jobs, the poverty rate would increase which can cause more issues for our economy and for our country.

If your interested in this topic, feel free visit

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/education/08grades.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper

-Eric Guo