Agenda: 12/17/10
1. Approve Minutes
2. Reports
3. 100 Point GPA Motion
4. Honor Code Motion
5. School Climate Committee Motion
6. Notes & New Business
Council Minutes 12/10/10
“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
- J.K. Rowling
1. Approval of Minutes
2. Reports:
· [Mod]: Agenda change — moving GPA motion ahead of Honor Code motion.
· [Exec]: Many are impressed with the topics that Council talks about.
· [Admin]: Still working on the MLK assembly, set for January 17th.
· [Curric]: X-day motion (talking to Ms. Gillespie), CC code (met with Mr. Murphy), and another week on 15% motion.
· [OEC]: Bylaws coming next week hopefully.
· [SL]: Language department policy for going Dartmouth.
· [SA]: Hanover’s Got Talent Dec. 22 with MC of Dmitry.
· [SSC]: Interviews starting Saturday!
· [Linda]: At next DSB meeting, Cost Reduction Committee discussion.
3. 100 Point GPA Motion
· Motion: I move that HHS’s GPA be calculated on a 100 point scale.
o [Rachel]: easier to determine your place, more exact, easier for colleges to see where you are
· Mr. Glenney
o If GPA calculation is important, we should do it precisely
o Condensing 100 pt scale to 4 pt scale blurs the accuracy of the data
- Making a crude calculation falsely precise
o Not inconvenient to teachers, the computer makes the 4 pt scale
· Mr. McCracking (see ppt.)
o Accepted standards
- Colleges/CollegeBoard likes 4 pt scale
- Our scale is most common
- Meshes well with Dartmouth courses
o Variability in grading
- Teachers are human, not exact
- Each teacher grades differently
- Performance based classes are difficult to grade with points
o Fairness and competition
- We want to recognize more students and reduce competition
- Increased grade-grubbing will result
- Cherry picking teachers
o Helpful or hurtful
- May hurt chances of college acceptance
- Difference b/t excellent and super excellent student?
- Could hurt acceptance of students into competitive schools
· Questions/Clarifications
o There are high schools that use the 100 pt scale
o Colleges vary on viewing the 4 pt scale differently than 100 pt scale
o The transcript holds the most weight in decision
o Averages over 100 would appear
o Our transcripts now show only letter grades
· Discussion
o One point on 100 scale matters a lot
o We might want to look at putting an A+ on transcripts
o We need to stop worrying so much about grades
o Nothing will ever be good enough, let the students relax!
o Performance classes are nearly impossible to put a number on
o Learn for learning’s sake! What is the importance of high school?
o Grade grubbing already happens
o Placing exactitude where nothing’s exact
o One student could receive two different grades with two different teachers
o This could cause large problems for teachers
Meeting Adjourned