A Brief History of Grade Floors

The slides embedded below tell a brief history of grade floors in South Carolina as well as the origins of our 10-point grading scale. What one State Superintendent once considered against state policy in 2012 was later determined by another to be a district-level decision in 2015.  Our current Uniform Grading Policy is silent on grade floors.

We believe that the evidence supporting the use of grade floors is weak.  Supporters believe that there are a number of factors impacting a student’s performance in school beyond academics, so those factors should also be considered when assigning grades, and that grade floors can help reduce student embarrassment or the stigma associated with extremely low grades.

This is simply not true. Yes, there are factors outside of academics that impact a student’s performance in school. However, those factors do not disappear after a student enters the workforce – those factors are still present, and work performance evaluations do not take those factors into account.

Also, by assigning a minimum grade, the stigma or embarrassment associated with poor grades is not solved – it simply shifts to that new minimum grade. 50% becomes the new 0%, and students know it.

With the legality of something so negatively impactful and prolific across the state as grade floors varying based on the current Superintendent’s interpretation of the law and regulations, there is an urgent need for the legislature to standardize state policy on grade floors in South Carolina.

We recently testified on a bill banning grade floors in South Carolina – you can check out the SC Daily Gazette’s coverage of that bill hearing here.