You have probably heard of Proficiency-based grading or better know as PBG. PBG is a style of grading in which many teachers here at Hunter High have started to implement. All classes in the Science departments use it and many other core classes are starting to use its grading system, 65 percent of your grade accounts for tests, 23 for assignments, and the final 12 percent is in quizzes.

Now if you ask anyone what their opinion is on it, a good amount would say either “I don’t like it”, or even go out and say stuff such as “It is stupid” or “I like the regular way better”, and I would have to say I am one of those people. I find PBG to be a good idea in theory but its execution could be a little bit better. Now to be “proficient” you need to show you know what you are learning about, the problem is that proficient gets you a three, which on the one-four scale gets you a B. To get an A you must show that you are above proficient, which to the average person may sound fine but to people who want to get A’s but are not someone who is above proficient in everything it makes getting A’s even harder than it already is. It also heavily relies on test scores, which make up almost 70 percent of your grade, one bad test could bring your grade down big time. If you have between an A and A minus on the quiz and assignments part, and get a C on a test your grade could go all the way down to a B or B minus.

Now it does make it harder to fail but most teachers could come up with a way to make what they teach exciting and more engaging. Now as I said before PBG could work but it needs to fix its problems to be better, if not then the old way might be the best way and the way we should go back to.