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Section I:
Instructional Goals and Objectives |
Knox County Board of Education Policy |
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Descriptor Term:
Uniform Grading Policy |
Descriptor Code: I-341 |
Issued: 12/18 |
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Reviewed: 3/24 |
Revised: 5/24 |
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UNIFORM GRADING POLICY
The State Board of Education is authorized to develop a uniform grading system for students in grades 6-12 or any student completing a high school credit. Beginning in the 2022/23 school year, students in those grades shall be subject to a ten point scale instead of a seven point scale. Thus, an “A” letter grade shall correspond to a range of 90 to 100 percent. A “B” letter grade shall correspond to range of 80 to 89 percent; and so forth through the letter grades.1,2 Students who complete advanced courses are eligible for additional weighting of: 1) quality points and 2) percentage points after a student sits for the aligned culminating exam with one exception: senior students who have registered for an AP exam by the end of the semester will be awarded the extra percentage points. If the student does not sit for the AP exam the percentage points will be revoked.
Students completing advanced academic courses will receive the following incentives:
Quality Points
Quality points are added to the numerical quality point value corresponding to the letter grade received in the course.
- One (1) quality point shall be added to the numerical quality point value corresponding to the letter grade received in an early postsecondary course. Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, industry certification, Statewide Dual Credit or Dual Enrollment: A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, F=0.
- One-half (.5) quality point shall be added to the numerical quality point value corresponding to the letter grade received for the course in an honors course: A=4.5, B=3.5, C=2.5, D=1.5, F=0.
- Assigning additional quality points above 4.0 for the courses listed above is not allowed for the purpose of determining eligibility for state lottery scholarships.
Percentage Points
Percentage points are additional points added on to a student’s final grade after he/she sits for the culminating exam.3
- Three (3) percentage points shall be added to the grades used to calculate the semester average for an honors course.
- Four (4) percentage points shall be added to the grades used to calculate the semester average for Statewide Dual Credit Courses, Industry Certification-Aligned Courses, Local Dual Credit Courses and Dual Enrollment Courses.
- Five (5) percentage points shall be added to the grades used to calculate the semester average for Advanced Placement, Cambridge International, College Level Exam Program (CLEP), and International Baccalaureate Courses.
Four (4) percentage points shall be added to the grades used to calculate the semester average for dual enrollment courses taken by a student at an institution of higher education (IHE). The district will use the process below if the IHE does not assign numeric final grades.
- If the IHE does not provide a final numerical grade, the following conversion chart will be used to ensure the additional points are awarded in a consistent manner.
| Letter Grade Received from IHE |
Numerical Grade Conversion |
KCS Grade |
| A+ | 98 | 100-A |
| A | 95 | 99-A |
| A- | 92 | 96-A |
| B+ | 88 | 92-A |
| B | 85 | 89-B |
| B- | 82 | 86-B |
| C+ | 78 | 82-B |
| C | 75 | 79-C |
| C- | 72 | 76-C |
| D+ | 68 | 72-C |
| D | 65 | 69-D |
| D- | 62 | 66-D |
| F | 55 | 59-F |
- If the IHE provides a final numerical grade, 4 percentage points will be added to the numerical grade for the high school transcript.
- In the event the IHE provides a final numerical grade which equals a lower KCS letter grade after adding the 4 percentage points than the IHE transcript, the higher of the two will be entered on the KCS transcript.
TRANSCRIPTS
The Knox County Schools District is only able to accept official transcript grades from the institution of higher education (IHE). Schools at all levels, K-12 and postsecondary, communicate grades through official transcripts whether a student is earning credit, transferring schools, or for other purposes.4 Student report cards and/or other types of documents or communication cannot be applied to this Uniform Grading Policy.
Legal References:
- T.C.A. § 49-6-407.
- Tennessee State Board of Education Policy 3.301.
- Tennessee State Board of Education, Academic and Instructional Requirements 0520-01-03.
- See e.g. Tennessee Board of Regents Policy 2.01.00.05: Early Postsecondary Opportunities.
NOTE: This policy was suspended on May 13, 2020 for the 2019-2020 school year in response to the current state of emergency caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Approved as to Legal Form
By Knox County Law Director 3/18/2024
/Gary T. Dupler/Deputy Law Director