Extra Credit: Grade Inflation or Grade Saver?

Here's an article I wrote for my high school paper this last month... enjoy!

I’ve always been of the opinion that students need to be the one to take the initiative to insure their good grades. Tests should be studied for, homework should be completed on time, and when necessary, extra credit should be hard work; it is extra credit after all. A’s should mean that you are among the best, the brightest, and the hardest working students.

A lot of students think that if they show up to class and turn in their assignments they should get an A. In classes based off participation, that’s true, but it shouldn’t be that way in all classes.

“Talents don’t lie in all areas,” said English teacher Debra Earl. Skill however, doesn’t always make the grade. For example, if P.E. were based off raw skill, an uncoordinated person like me would fail. That wouldn’t be fair. If someone shows up and tries their hardest to improve, they deserve at least as good of a grade as say an athletic person to whom sports come naturally. However, for core classes like math or English, grades shouldn’t be inflated, but should be a true reflection of skill level.

According to school counselor Joy Benson, school statistics show that unlike the ideal bell curve, Payson’s overall GPAs make more of a “U” shape. We have a lot of A’s and B’s, hardly any C’s and quite a few failing grades. There are a lot of things that contribute to this problem, but one thing is on student’s minds as they work to fix their grades, especially here at the close of an old term and start of a new one, is extra credit.

It seems I have a love/hate relationship with extra credit. For example, a few weeks ago, I had a tough looking test coming up. A few days prior to the test, class started off with a joke quiz that everyone got 10 extra credit points just for completing. Then 25 extra credit points were awarded to the winning team of the review game.

Before the day of the test I went home and legitimately studied. Despite the extra credit cushion I had, a lot of the test was memorization, and I take pride in my test scores and hard work. On test day, I was confident about the most of the answers I had given. Then, with five minutes of testing left, the teacher called out that students could use their notes for the remainder of the time. Normally I would be thinking “score!” but not then. Thirty-five points of extra credit and getting to use your notes was just too much. I had studied and worked really hard for my score. Why should someone else who didn’t even know the information be able to get the same test grade as me when I really did? I felt it was unfair and was infuriated.

Extra credit should not be the lifeline of your GPA, but rather a tool that should be worked hard for and used when necessary. If a student does poorly on a test they should have a way to make up the missed points by working hard to improve mastery of the test material. They could write an essay, attend an extra concert, or whatever work the teacher requires. My point being that I believe we should work for the points, I don’t want us to be handed out extra credit just for the sake of extra credit.

When is extra credit appropriate? How much should be given? And by what process? I spoke to A LOT of teachers. You know what I found? Every teacher had their own differing opinion on the topic, leaving me more confused than ever.

Some teachers, like math teacher Elwood Wall have a strict no extra credit policy.

“Generally extra credit is credit a student wants that is not comparable to the credit missed, so really, the student might as well do the homework,” he said.

But students aren’t the only ones feeling pressure to get good grades. Teachers feel the pressure to offer extra credit opportunities, whether they agree with it or not.

“There is a lot of pressure to be 4.0 students because they all want to get into a good school and have scholarships. Pressure also comes from parents, and that puts pressure on teachers, so we look for a way to help them make up missed points,” said English Teacher Ashleigh Redmond.

Extra credit and grades don't seem so black and white anymore, right?

“A lot of it is on a student by student basis,” said Redmond. “As teachers, we need to make sure that students master concepts, not just load up on the extra credit.”

In her class a student can’t skip writing an essay and then save their grade end of term due to extra credit because the student still has not mastered the concept of how to write an essay.

Photography teacher and Student Council Adviser Melisa Brotherson has found middle ground with this conflict.

“If I know is a student in the middle of a very critical, difficult situation and that if their grades drop it can have a lot of negative consequences, I will work with that student to figure out how to raise their grade,” Brotherson said. “As a teacher, sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.”

From these teachers I’ve concluded that between the pressure we face as students and the varying circumstances we face, giving out accurate grades is a struggle each school deals with. However, extra credit is a tool we can use when hard work simply isn’t enough to make the grade.

Extra credit is a means of meeting in the middle with your teachers. If approached properly it’s a great way to master the concepts in the core and raise your grade; the best of both worlds if you will. Brotherson said it best.

“It’s about learning to have the scary conversations. When you’re a kid and you have a bad grade, it can be scary to approach a teacher and ask for help, but learning how to have those ‘scary conversations’ is a skill you’ll need throughout your life.”

Whether it’s deciding where to take a relationship, facing the death of a loved one, or getting accepted to college, the school system is preparing us for tomorrow by encouraging students to take the initiative and have scary conversations.