Same shit, different name?

Over a nice dinner with the in-laws (sister and pop) school grades were discussed.  My sis in-laws daughter scored "4 and 5's", which I assumed to be good.  I asked what's with the number scale?  They don't grade A, B, C, D, F with a sprinkling of + and - in the mix?  No, now they are graded 1,2,3,4,5.


My question is, isn't that the same thing?  5=A, 4=B, 3=C, 2=D and 1=F, so that means (insert name of niece) got A's and B's?  That's good!  No, it's apparently not the same.  She somehow did better because 3 is average or at grade level, 4 is above level.... and 5 is like an A+.  Wait, back up.  How does that work???  There are 5 scores you can receive, just like in the letter grade system... but somehow a 4 is better than a B but not as a 5/A+?

I know I am not brilliant at math but am I missing something?  Aside from the + and- being removed from the grading equation doesn't the 1-5 system sound an awful lot like the A-F (minus the E) system?  I was curious why and didn't get much of an answer aside from the new system was to lessen "confusion".  Was the old grading system really that confusing?  Am I missing something here folks?  Did I make a wrong turn at Albuquerque or is this new number system a way to coddle children who just can't make the grade?

Once again, what's the difference between being an A/B student or being a 4/5 student?  Toh-MAY-toh, toh-mah-toh; right?  I have a sinking suspicion this new number system with redefined (different verbiage same meaning, but what do the helicopter parents know anyways right?) scoring is a crock of shit.  It's like now pee-wee soccer teams don't keep score... or kids feelings will get hurt.  So dumb.  I am not going to try harder if I know I get a cookie for trying lower than my abilities.  What ever happened to working for a goal, trying your hardest, outshining everyone else?  All of this equal opportunity shit ended up taking a wrong turn at Fuckuplandia.  Equal opportunity doesn't mean level the fucking playing field people... that defeats the purpose of a playing field at all.

I probably should password protect this but then again, I doubt the in-laws read this shit.... or maybe they do but don't tell me.... or maybe I haven't been a big enough thorn in their side as of yet.  I should probably pw protect some of my future posts.  Or make up a super secret squirrel blog...........hmm.  Nah, I think I will just wear it all out there for the world to see.  I mean really, what kind of asshole doesn't tell you shit straight to your face right?  A coward, that's right.  I have my opinions and there is no sense in trying to sugar-coat mine for the sake of idiocy.  



I am sure I will eat my words sooner than I can blink but dammit it's how I feel.  And I would rather sting a little up front than have you dying for a stab wound to your back (totally metaphorical but you knew that right?)

Here is another query for this new grading system, how does it apply for applying to universities?  Or does this number system only apply to grammar school?  Harvard's acceptable GPA is 4.0-4.5, so with this new number system does that mean "B" students will now be the norm for Harvard?  (Edit: Disregard the fact that $ is what gets you into Harvard more so than grades but then again $ can get you some pretty amazing grades.  Or so I have heard.)