Keep The Community In The College – By Nick Major

The District Academic Senate (DAS) voted Feb. 26 to approve plus-minus grading and for it to be implemented in the San Mateo Community College district come this fall. Their next step is to have this implementation approved by the board of trustees.

For those that aren’t aware, plus-minus grading is the policy of changing our current grading system (A, B, C, D) to a more specific system (A+, A-,B+, B-). This changed system will provide more specific indicators on student success and provide “fairness” to student evaluation; the students that work harder will have grades that reflect.

This system works great for showing who the cream of the crop is, but it’s incredibly detrimental for the kind of students that go to a community college. The three kinds of students who primarily go to community college are ex-high school, working students and returning students. All three need the buffer that the current grading system offers in order to attempt to be successful, a buffer that the plus-minus grading system eliminates.

Some people may think this buffer encourages students to be lazy by aiming only to achieve their bracketed grade, but instructors as a whole will tell you that the student with this mentality will have grades that reflect this trend. Students who aim for the bar minimum may get by for a time, but ultimately their mentality betrays them and they are weeded out.

But for those students that legitimately struggle with college coursework, the current system is a godsend. They are recognized with the same distinction as potentially smarter students and not stigmatized with a “+” or “-“ to create internal hierarchy. This environment isn’t about fostering competition; it’s about empowering and transforming a global community of learners. This fostering atmosphere is diminished when placed against such a rigid grading structure.

For those students that feel their work and effort wouldn’t be appreciated without a plus-minus grading system, we have the honors classes that run parallel to the standard classes that do offer an alternative for those students that want to be recognized for the added effort they know they’re going to make. These systems are also effective because they are imposed by the student themselves, allowing those students who aren’t as confident about their performance the ability to take things at their own pace.

Another argument to change the system to a plus-minus is to better show the colleges as dignified and to conform to the same structure held by the UC’s and CSU’s. Although the system does better to distinguish the progress of the student body, a community college’s primary goal should be to encourage learning, not to conform and distinguish itself. If this system didn’t affect the students negatively in this way then the change would be fine, but the added stress would surely begin to detract from the amazingly welcoming atmosphere that the community colleges have captured.

This decision may be argued to better encourage the students to strive for higher standards, but on the whole it will discourage the students that haven’t adjusted to the discipline of higher education. It may seem unfair, but the current system is the best choice for the students. Those that excel can be recognized through honors courses, while those that struggle won’t feel stigmatized or lesser than their peers.

Plus/minus grading get students to focus on there work – By Vincent Biancalana

Plus/minus grading can only stand to help students of all kinds. Plus/minus encourages students to be forward thinking, as UC and CSU students already implement these grading systems. Community college students can lose focus mid-semester and slip up quite easily when they forget the weight of every assignment.

Plus/minus encourages students to work hard at their studies and care about each individual and seemingly petty assignment. Skyline hopes to modify plus/minus to not include A’s; this would be amazing in encouraging students to give their all to their classes.

Even if you didn’t quite get an A, a B+ would not be as detrimental to an A student’s GPA. A 4.0 from a miffed class wouldn’t drop all the way down to a 3.0 added to GPA. The same applies for students who are not as successful; a student with a GPA below 2.0 needs to raise it by several points, but C’s would not help them in this situation.

Plus/minus would make it easier for a struggling student to earn a C+ or B-, which could better reflect their actual efforts.

Teachers might be more inclined to immediately post their student’s grades immediately, meaning students could better impact their own grade by giving them easier, and attainable goals to improve. Many transfer colleges will also see students in a better light; a college will be more impressed by a B+ (just shy of an A) rather than a regular B.

Some argue that this grading system will discourage students from extracurricular activity, as student lose extra time in favor of boosting their grade by increments of 5%. This is entirely ridiculous because many students don’t participate in extracurricular activities, and those who do aren’t going to quit for the difference between a B and a B-. Besides, Skyline College is a learning community and anything that gets students focused more on their grades and their work should be welcome.