the grading scale

Should an 80 to 91 be a B ?

OPINION | March 2025

While other schools have grading scales that consist of 80-90% being the letter grade of "B" and 90-100% being the letter grade of an "A," Bismarck, North Dakota has a grading scale where 83-91% is a "B" and 92-100% is an "A."

While this might seem like a minor difference for some. There may be students whose grades tank because of the grading scale.

This made me question: 

• Why the scale is the way it is? 

• What are the students' opinions on the grading scale? 

• How do students feel about school in general?

How did this come about?

Principal Steve Madler said, “The grading scale changed 15 years ago. Before then, teachers were allowed to use their own grading scales.” The school board took all the teacher grade books from different schools and averaged them up to get the grading scale that we have now.

What do the students think?

I found out that other schools use a different grading scale compare to Bismarck. In Montana, 90-100% is an “A” and 80-89% is a “B” compared to Bismarck’s grading scale where a 92-100% is an “A” and 83-91% is a “B.” With this in mind, I took both the Montana and Bismarck grading scales and asked the students which one they preferred. Out of 1,387 Century students, 64 responded to my poll and over 83.6% of those students prefer Montana grading scales. 

How do students feel about school in general?

The grading scale is not the only problem because the majority of students reported feeling mentally drained and tired from school.

“I always feel drained at the end of the day,” said sophomore Kathleen Campbell.

They also said that getting a bad grade makes them less motivated to learn or try new things. Several students are already under immense pressure from their parents to maintain good grades. Imagine how demotivated students might feel after working their hardest to get an 80% or 82% for it to be a "C."

During my interview with Madler, he said something that really stuck with me: “It’s not about the grade that you get but more about the learning.”

This is very important to consider because some students focus mainly on the grade and not the material they learned. While getting a good grade is very important, making sure you understand and know the material is just as useful.

How to deal with school pressure:

• Make sure you know and understand what you are learning.

• Ask for help when you need it.

• Give yourself time to relax.

• Practice time management.

While all of these steps are vital, the most beneficial step in my opinion is to remember high school only lasts four years. If you spend four years worrying about your grades, you won’t enjoy your high school experience at all. High school can either be the best four years of your life or the worst four years of your life.