The Louisiana Department of Education recently changed the grading scale for high school students, ordering that Honors classes be weighed on a 5.0 scale instead of a 4.5 scale. As a result, Zachary High is changing its GPA system. Honors and AP classes will weigh the same, which has sparked controversy among students, parents, and teachers.
The most controversial part of this decision is that AP and Honors classes now weigh the same, both on the 5.0 grading school. AP classes are meant to be college-level courses with a nationally standardized curriculum. In contrast, Honors courses, though challenging, aren’t quite as intense and don’t require students to take a standardized national exam. Before, AP courses had more weight when calculating GPA, but now AP and Honors classes offer the same GPA boost.
Adam Fevella, a teacher at Zachary High, believes this change is unfair to AP students. AP classes are objectively much more difficult. Many courses require hours of reading and studying outside of class, and the tests are much more difficult to pass. Fevella believes that by changing the grading scale of Honors classes to 5.0, the hard work of students who take AP classes is diminished.
“By giving [both classes] equal weight, the school undermines the effort and difficulty associated with taking AP courses,” Fevella said.
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He also worries that more students will choose Honors over AP courses. If the two courses weigh the same, but Honors classes are easier to pass, students are likely to take the easier path with an Honors course rather than choosing to challenge themselves in an AP class. This could lead to a decline in AP enrollment and may be detrimental to AP classes at Zachary High.
“One of the incentives for taking AP classes is the GPA boost that rewards students for enrolling in the most challenging coursework. If Honors courses provide the same GPA benefits without the intense workload or AP exam pressure, students may opt for Honors instead, leading to a decline in AP enrollment,” Fevella said.
Taylor Haynes (10), who takes AP classes, echoed Fevella’s thoughts. She, too, feels that it’s unfair for Honors and AP classes to be measured on the same scale. Her AP classes are much more complex than any of the Honors classes she’s taken, and she believes her GPA should reflect that.
“It’s unfair to have honors and AP classes weighted on the same scale because AP classes call for much more work and dedication. Honors classes are just faster paced regular classes. AP classes are on completely different subjects and learn completely different things than Honors and Regulars,’’ Haynes said.
Other teachers have mixed feelings about the change. Heather Gautreaux believes that given time the Honors curriculum will adjust, which will make the grading scales more fair. However, she believes that the sudden change is unfair for current AP students, whose class ranks will suddenly change.
“Going forward, I don’t think it will be necessarily unfair. I do think it’s unfair to current students who have worked hard to take AP and DE classes and now may potentially lose their class ranking in their senior year,” Gautreaux said.
Mckinna Lewis also has a mixed opinion: while she’s happy the change will benefit Honors’ students, she believes it’s unfair to the AP students. Her biggest concern is how the change will affect her classes. Students may choose not to take AP classes, which will affect enrollment, and Lewis says she will need to adjust her Honors curriculum to be more challenging.
“Moving forward, students will really have to think about their choices of Honors vs. AP and what their goals are,” Lewis said, “If students are more GPA-focused vs. college credit-focused, they will need to weigh those options.”
While some students may appreciate the benefits of the new scale, others worry about how it could impact motivation and the way AP courses are viewed. It’s a change that will take time to fully understand, but one thing is clear—it’s going to reshape the academic landscape at Zachary High.
