DATE: Friday, June 27, 1997                 TAG: 9706260367

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education 

SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  102 lines

ALMOST 4 OUT OF 10 VIRGINIA BEACH STUDENTS HAVE BELOW-AVERAGE GRADES ATHLETES TEND TO HAVE A HIGHER GPA THAN THE STUDENT BODY ON THE WHOLE.

While they were deliberating whether to require a 2.0 minimum grade-point average for student athletes, School Board members were presented with information that caught many in the state's second-largest school division by surprise.

Among all high school students in the fall 1996 semester, almost 38 percent had less than a C average. Athletes, it turned out, tended to have a higher GPA than the student body as a whole.

For a school system that considers itself one of the best in Virginia, the numbers caused more than one chin to drop and pointed out what could be a bigger problem than academic achievement among student athletes - that almost four of 10 high school students aren't making average grades.

``I was a bit surprised,'' said board vice chairwoman Delceno C. Miles, herself a product of the Beach schools. ``That was a basically a reality check for me.''

Others, including Superintendent Timothy R. Jenney, also expressed concern.

``Obviously, given the (student) profile of our district, I think we should have a higher percentage of students above a 2.0. We could and should do better.''

For the district as a whole, 27.3 percent of the students had a 2.999 or better and 62.3 percent had a 1.999 or better on a 4-point scale with a 4.0 being an A. (In advanced placement classes, a 5-point scale is used, so it is possible for students to have better than a 4.0). Among athletes, 38.6 percent of students had a 2.999 or better and 77.3 percent had a 1.999 or better.

Several experts said, however, that while the numbers should give the district's leadership pause, more information is needed before the data's true meaning is clear. What the numbers don't say, they argue, is as important as what they do.

Robert Lynn Canady, an associate professor of education at the University of Virginia, is a nationally recognized expert on grading. He said Beach officials need to look at what classes students are having the most problems with and what grade levels are presenting a stumbling block. Canady's research, for instance, has found a national trend of high failure rate among ninth-graders. In their study, Beach officials, too, found a red flag with the number of students retained in the ninth grade.

Canady also pointed out that approaches to grading can vary widely. The Beach has no overall grading policy to ensure consistency, and school officials acknowledge that complicates deciphering the data.

``People interpret a B as sacred, but it depends on teacher demands and teacher criteria,'' said K. Edwin Brown, assistant superintendent for the department of accountability.

Almost everyone has had a teacher who gave extra credit for neatness or punctuality. At the same time, legends are passed down from class to class of those instructors who announce on the first day of school that they give only one A per semester. In situations like that, a grade's meaning can become jumbled.

And in the classroom, students experience the differences.

``In a lot of my classes, teachers didn't collect the homework as much. But in math class, my teacher collected homework every day and we got a homework grade,'' said Barbara Wray, who will begin her sophomore year at Bayside High School in September. ``That was a huge chunk of our grade.''

Just looking at the data the Beach collected for a single semester doesn't answer deeper questions.

``It tells me a lot of kids aren't experiencing much success. But why? Is this normal? Is this reason for concern?'' Canady asked. The answers require more detailed information, he said.

Joan Herman, associate director of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing in Los Angeles, also said there are variables to consider, including the ``hazy'' nature of grading.

Herman suggested that the division compare standardized test scores with grades to see whether there was a correlation.

And she argued against the notion that grades must be distributed in such a way that a certain percentage of students get a certain grade.

``If education was doing a good job, one would hope all students were learning what everyone wanted them to learn,'' Herman said. ``Everyone can't be above average because `above average' is a comparative term. But everyone can be learning well.''

For some, though, the numbers mean the district's leaders need to adjust their expectations and acknowledge that only in fiction can all children be above average.

``I wouldn't be concerned,'' said Lawrence Pudner, director of the Educational Resources Information Center's clearinghouse on assessment and evaluation. ``It looks like there's some honest grading going on.

``A B means a B.''

Several board members and administrators agreed they needed more data to fully understand the numbers. Brown said more detailed information would be gathered beginning with the coming school year.

Board member Neil Rose said the statistics alone were not as much a concern to him as the need to look behind them to understand why students were achieving at that level.

``To me, it's an indicator of students we need to focus on and figure out why they're at that point,'' he said. More complete information would help school leaders ``do what we can to help them learn more.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Virginia Beach Senior High School GPAs

[High Schools in Virginia Beach]

[Citywide totals GPA]

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS GPA GRADES

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu