January 16, 2009Volume 53, Issue 6 McLean High School; 1633 Davidson Road, McLean, VA 22101Highlander

David BerkSports Editor

Despite the fact that McLean is ranked 55th in U.S News and World Reports’ latest ranking of public high schools nationally, a comparison of Mclean Student Ser-vices data to College Board data indicates that the per-formance of McLean’s Class of 2009 merely mirrored na-tional averages on SAT subject exams in French, Physics and Spanish.

For the three exams, on the 200-800 scale the average scores of McLean students were 610, 647 and 640, respec-tively. The average scores of students in the Class of 2008 nationally were 620, 650 and 640, respectively, according to the College Board.

In contrast, on all other SAT subject tests that members of the McLean Class of 2009 took, they scored substan-tially higher than did students nationally. On the Chem-istry, World History, and Literature subject tests, for in-stance, McLean students on average scored 728, 677 and 660, respectively, versus national averages of 635, 584 and 580, respectively.

French teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair Ghislaine Tulou and Spanish teacher Adam Stryker both attributed the scores on the tests in their areas of ex-

pertise in part to what they believe the SAT exams actu-ally measure.

“The SAT II Spanish Test without listening is an achievement test that seeks to evaluate the knowledge about the language, not [the] functional aspect--what students can do with the language, what some call ‘pro-ficiency’ or ‘fluency’ in a language,” Stryker said.

In addition, both teachers inquired as to the creden-tials of the 11 students who took the French exam and the seven who took the Spanish exam, including grade and course level (1, 2, 3, 4, AP, or 5).

In separate interviews, Tulou and Stryker both indi-cated that they had not been aware of McLean students’ performance on the exams in their respective languages, relative to that of students nationally. Neither saw the performance of McLean students as a cause for alarm.

“Our students are learning how to communicate in the language above all,” Tulou said. “Our performance assessments (PALS) drive the instructional program in our classes. College alumni who come back to visit us always comment on how well they are able to commu-nicate with the

continued on page 6

French, Physics, Spanish SAT scores at national averages

Members make final decision concerning higher weights for APs ThursdaySchool board debates changes to grading scaleNikki KaulReporter

At a Fairfax County Public School Board work session last Monday, the board leaned towards the decision to increase weights on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes from 0.5 to 1.0.

If this decision passes through at the next meeting on Thursday, it will go into effect at the end of the first semester for the 2008-2009 school year. The hope for this plan is that seniors will have greater chances of re-ceiving merit scholarships.

If it is passed, the 1.0 credit will be ap-plied to previous years’ transcripts for AP and IB classes. This retroactive weighting would affect students’ current GPAs.

At the next meeting, a decision about any changes to the actual ten-point grading scale will also be made.

However, the possibility of weighting for honors courses will be researched for a little longer by the school board to make a more informed decision. A decision will most like-ly be made next year.

Before the Monday session, FAIR-GRADE, an organization that has been protesting Fairfax County Public Schools’ grading scale for over a year now, presented their arguments at a widely publicized school board meeting Jan. 8 at Luther Jackson Mid-dle School.

Principal Dr. Deborah Jackson is an ad-vocate for the new honors weighting system to help McLean students get more attention that she feels they deserve.

“Honors courses were never really viewed as rigorous as AP courses, but seeing how hard students were working in those classes, we saw how much responsibility honors stu-dents were shouldering,” Jackson said.

FAIRGRADE advocates for a plan known as Option D, which consists of a 10-point grading scale with pluses and minuses for each letter grade, and increased weights for honors, AP and IB classes.

Students, like sophomore Ellen Loftis, find the current grading scale more demand-

ing than encouraging. “Getting recognized for our efforts in courses would be a nice change,” Loftis said.

Josephine Cervantes, a member of FAIR-GRADE, said at the school board meeting, “46 percent of students will benefit from the grading scale change, and will gain more ac-cess and admission to institutions of higher standards.”

At the school board meeting, several par-ent speakers presented their arguments to the grading situation, including McLean parent

George Longwell. “Our grading scale is like asking our stu-

dents to run a ten-yard dash and start ten yards behind,” Longwell said.

According to Marcy Newberger, a Co-founder and Vice President of FAIRGRADE, “the school board’s attitude towards FAIR-GRADE’s cause at the work session was a pleasant surprise. I think the school board understands a grading scale change to our outdated grading system is much needed.”

The current situation with the grading

policies for Fairfax County is at a standstill until Thursday, when the school board will hold another meeting at Luther Jackson Middle School to make the decision .

According to Fairfax County Public School Board Executive Assistant Kathy Partlow, “a final decision on the grading scale and the 1.0 credit being added to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes is expected to be finalized on Thurs-day.”

Parents in support of FAIRGRADE and changes to the grading scale watch the Jan. 12 school board meeting held to discuss the issue. The meeting was so highly attended that they had to watch the meeting via television in nearby classrooms. Though no official decision has been made, the board has indicated that increased weights will be added to AP and IB courses starting this year.

photo by Talia Roth

The Super-bowl is just a few weeks away. See our predictions for the big game on page 19

Learn how lo-cal businesses are suffering

because of the bad economy, on

page 5

French Spanish PhysicsWorld History ChemistryLiterature

610640 647

660

584620

640 650

580

728677

635

McL

ean

Nat

iona

l

McL

ean

McL

ean

McL

ean

McL

ean

McL

ean

Nat

iona

l

Nat

iona

l

Nat

iona

l

Nat

iona

l

Nat

iona

l

A comparison of the SAT Subject test scores of McLean class of 2009 students* and the national class of 2008** showed that McLean students were well behind national averages in French, Spanish, and Physics.

All scores are scaled (200-800) allowing for comparison among scores from different test dates.*Source: McLean High School Profile 2008-2009

**Source: “Understanding Your SAT Scores,” College Board

Preparations for One Acts are underway. Get a sneak peek

at the featured shows on page 12

How does McLean stack up to private schools? Find out on pages 10 and 11