Fairfax County School Board Grade Change Testimony

FAIRFAX COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD: GRADE CHANGE ISSUE  FALL 2008

“My name is Anne Miniter McKay. I am a currently practicing teen and family therapist here in Fairfax County. What I am NOT going to talk about tonight is the current grading system’s effect on the "A and B" students trying to get scholarships or into Ivy League colleges. 

I am here to talk about the “C and C+” and “D and D+” students who in spite of intelligence and hard work, due to the current grading scale and deeply established values in this country about what “letter grades” and GPAs mean, are suffering.  What are their psychological outcomes now and in the future?  What is at risk for these kids under the current Fairfax system?   Well a lot is at risk, and I see it every day in my practice:

1. I see that these teens’ self-esteem and overall confidence suffers as they compare themselves to other students outside Fairfax and think that as a result of letter grades and GPAs that they must “not be that smart or capable” or are even “stupid”, and they eventually just stop trying. I urge you to take a look at the well-studied psychological Pygmalion Effect whereby “falsely low labeled” human beings come to believe that they are less capable than they truly are and ultimately fail to excel to where they otherwise likely would have succeeded. 

2. I see the parents of these teens look at their kids’ grades and falsely believe that these kids are not trying hard enough.  They then place pressure and restrictions on them to spend enormous amounts of time studying such that these kids #1 have highly strained relationships with their parents, and #2 don’t have balanced lives with extra-curricular activities such as sports, music, hobbies, clubs, and quality family time --- How can they?? The time for all that just disappears…  And forget about it when SAT grades come in and are good ---- then the parents really crank on them: “What is wrong with you Sara??...Don’t you know what is at stake here Rachel???...It is simply not enough to just get good SAT’S Brian!!!!!!!”

3. I see high levels of stress and anxiety disorder, increased drug & alcohol use, depression, and suicidal ideation in these teens who believe they are losers, have let their parents down, and are setting their lives up for failure.  The stress for these families in their homes….at night away from school…..and away from this Board….but poured out in the privacy of my office can just rip your heart out.  What I would give to be able to wave a magic wand, recalculate these kids grades, and have them leave my office with a feeling of competency and hope for their future success and the happiness THAT THEY DESERVE… as they have done nothing so wrong. To think that if these families had just chosen to live over the river in Bethesda or Rockville, it would all be so different, is disturbing.    

In closing, a brief comment on “academic excellence.”  I am a graduate of the academically lauded Sidwell Friends School which has been in the news quite a bit lately due to the President’s children attending there this Spring.  Sidwell is on a 10-point scale.  …and I leave you with a copy of their scale which is and I quote “adapted from guidelines developed by MIT and Princeton University.”

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board:  Given the last point, we do NOT likely sacrifice our high academic standards by switching to the 10-point scale.  HOWEVER, I strongly urge you to support Option D…. NOT… because of scholarships or getting our students into Ivy League Colleges but for the vital cause of ACCURATE ACHIEVEMENT LABELING and the LEVEL PLAYING FIELD that that will create so that ALL of our kids are given a better chance at psychological health and therefore…. a better chance at overall life success.” 

Thank you.

Anne Miniter McKay NCC LPC

Fairfax County, Virginia

703-328-4937