For many students at WCHS, grading policies can be incredibly frustrating. From deadlines to 50% rules, it can be difficult to grasp how the process works. More frustratingly, after all the work students put in, the grades they receive can be subpar and below expectations.
“I’ll put in all of this work for a class, only to be met with Cs,” WCHS junior Jeff McJeffson said. “No matter how hard I try it’s never enough. It makes me want to give up.”
Specifically, McJeffson believes that AP English Language and Composition is the worst offender. He perceives an inconsistency with grading in the class, where many assignments get points taken off no matter how much effort is put in.
“They’ll take off an unimaginable amount of points for the most insane reasons,” McJeffson said. “It’s genuinely come to the point where I think the grades are just randomized. It’s almost like they’re out there rolling dice or something — whatever it lands on becomes the grade.”
McJeffson, however, is right. According to a TA, speaking on conditions of anonymity for their safety, AP Lang has utilized random number generators to grade assignments, choosing to use a picker wheel because it reminded them of the “privilege wheel”, a circular chart used early in the school year to teach students about speakers and their point of view.
“Many people wonder what TAs even do, and in truth, they operate the picker wheel,” the TA said. “It’s been a long running practice by now, a true staple of the class. I love watching it go round and round while student’s grades go down and down.”
The TA says that the picker wheel was introduced after too many students began succeeding in the class. Teachers needed a way to bring class averages down, and the wheel was introduced.
“The English department basically decided that more students needed to fail,” the TA said. “They’ve employed other methods, such as grading students based on expectations they reveal after the assignments are completed, but the picker wheel has been the most effective. It’s worked well, and grades are falling.”
The TA says that because grades are dropping so quickly, the class has had to change its objectives and expectations for WCHS students. For example, AP Lang recently made students write an argumentative essay digitally despite the exam being on paper, with the expectation that by the time students pass the class, AP exams will have been digitized.
Some may expect that TAs feel incredibly guilty at the fact that they ruin the grades of their fellow students. The anonymous TA, however, says they get great enjoyment out of operating the picker wheel.
“It’s definitely a power trip thing,” the TA said. “It’s a dog eat dog world out there, and if I don’t spin the wheel, someone else will. What’s wrong with putting yourself in a position of privilege? I would rather be the one to ruin other’s grades than have my own ruined.”
As WCHS is getting ready to make even more changes next year to counter grade inflation, the TA hopes that AP Lang’s picker wheel success can inspire the school to change course. They hope that other departments will adopt random number generators over the new grading policies.
“Just use picker wheels! There’s no point in doing grade deflation,” the TA said. “It’s just gonna make graduating even harder. It’ll ruin people. I understand that’s the entire point, but come on, it’s below us. At this school, we’re not monsters, we’re only evil.”
