UW grade adjustments help to level the academic playing field

Re: UW adjusts high school grades — Sept. 19

When we try to understand the challenges that very competitive university programs such as engineering at University of Waterloo face in selecting and ensuring the success of the most promising applicants, we need to consider the factors that are among the best predictors of university attendance and subsequent success. Two big ones are parental post-secondary attainment and parents’ belief in the power of formal education.

Jeff Outhit’s story indicates that factors such as “parent education, role models and mentors, financial pressures” have not been studied. As they are the most important predictors of access to postsecondary education, they are worth studying. There is an implication that grade inflation is rampant at less wealthy, less well-resourced and more urban schools. This may look like a case of ‘less capable’ kids getting a free ride. The grade adjustments used in Waterloo’s fiercely competitive engineering programs are genuinely trying to ‘level the playing field’ across schools. They may look unfair to hardworking students, but the truth is that the recalibrations necessary to truly level the playing field would take far more than a high school grade adjustment. Youth from middle-class or privileged homes shouldn’t worry about a system disadvantaging them in any way. The entire system was built to increase the chances they will always stay 10 points ahead.

Kelly Anthony

Waterloo