There are plenty of schools out there that are going against the grain and looking into alternative methods of grade keeping. Most parents and student in the United States are used to the A, B, C, D, F as the current grading scale is allowed. However, there are a similar number of schools that are popping up that are interested in a different method of scoring.
The idea has been that there are so many kids who are on different needs and a different scale that grading every child the same on the same exam is a problem that doesn’t grade kids fairly for the work and effort they put in. Of course this doesn’t mean that there is an inherent problem with these grades, just that they leave a little to be desired as far as what they mean.
For students there are plenty of kids who have trouble adjusting to these new grades. Many of them don’t convey the kind of message that and A or an F would convey. While they might be designed to give off more information they are actually giving off far less information and making a lesser impact on the child. There is no reason why a school can’t have a little of both.
For many schools the best way has always been a numerical scale. Many schools are considering going to a numerical scale as opposed to using letter grades at all. Still, there is no doubt that grading system will keep changing.