A New Jersey School District has decided to ban "D" grades in their system. Reason: nobody wants to hire "D" anything, so why have them in our system. They are lowering the "C" percentile to include part of the old "D" range. The district is not saying previous students with a "D" level mastery now fail. That means they will now be given "C" grades.
Grades are an indication of achievement. The ultimate is pass-fail. Pass means you have achieved proficiency in the subject to use it successfully. Grade "A" through "D" are all pass. They represent degrees of the subject mastery beyond proficiency.
Supposedly the change is to make students feel better about themselves. Nice sentiment. Not realistic. It increases the number of students in the next to failure category. The emotional stress felt by students getting "D" grades will now be extended to the "C" students. Making "C" the old "D" grade.
Eligibility for extra curricula activities including athletics in the New Jersey system requires passing grades. Eliminating "D" grades doesn't affect local school athletics. The NCAAA does consider "D" grades for determining freshman eligibility to play. Will college athletics from this school district now get a free pass on playing time eligibility? The NCAA will no doubt adopt a procedure specific to this school system for determining eligibility.
Change is not bad. The college athletic eligibility is just one ripple this change will cause. I am sure others will be created. In the future other schools may eliminate "D" grades. Or, this district may revert.
America's prosperity and high quality of life is because we are nonconformist. Always looking for a way to do things better. Centralized control stifles innovation. I'm glad this district can experiment. I think their decision is naïve. Only time will tell.
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