I recently read an article by Seanna Adcox of Associated Press. She reports that a South Carolina agency suggested that schools be graded publicly with an A-F scale. There has been an educational outcry against such a rating system. As a new Principal at an Alternative Ed High School, where test scores are low, my school would most likely fall into an F range. Regardless of that, there are three reasons grading schools should be graded on an A-F scale.

Reminder
Getting an F as a school administrator is a reminder of how our struggling students feel when they are not successful. There are always circumstances outside our students’ control that impact their education. Likewise in receiving a failing grade we are forced to reflect on the difficulty that some of our students face.

Community Accountability
If a school receives an F, the local media will run the story. Local businesses and families will have to make a decision if this is acceptable. More community resources would be funneled into the school system as people come together, as it would be in their best business interests to support the schools.

Readability
With the way people are able to twist language or use different words to soften the impact of failure an A-F scale makes it easy to see where you stand. Everybody knows what an A means. Everybody knows what an F means. There is no hiding behind political language. If a traditional grading scale is how we rate our children we should have the courage to rate ourselves in the same manner.

No system is perfect. A scale that rates our schools A-F at least reminds us what it feels like to be students, impacts community accountability and is easy for everybody to read. Perhaps if we don’t like using such a scale to judge ourselves we shouldn’t use such a scale to judge our students.

To read the article by Seanna Adcox and see why many oppose this rating scale click here. What do you think of the rating system? Leave your comments below.