USVI: Undermining true achievement

Pretending that a B- is a B+ is an absolute waste of time and will do students a disservice in the long run. I've marked a lot of papers in my time, and there is a quantifiable difference between a B- and a B+. Grade inflation as proposed by USVI educators might seem to have an admirable goal, but their pragmatism will undermine both the system and the children's self-confidence. When a student earns a grade, he knows it and his self-esteem receives the only boost it needs -- that which comes from achievement and hard work.

V.I. public high schools will bump up students' grades in rigorous Advanced Placement courses beginning next year.

The V.I. Board of Education voted early this month to increase students' numerical grades by 10 percent as an incentive to sign up for the full-year A.P. courses, which require about double the time commitment of typical high school courses.

Under the new policy, a student who earned a grade of 80 percent, a B-, would have that grade increased eight percentage points, bringing it up to the equivalent of a B+.

"This is going to make a difference for us in terms of our numbers of students participating," said Tulip Fleming, A.P. program manager for the V.I. Education Department.