“If you focus on the grade before the learning, you are generally skimming the surface,” said Mr. Cruse. “You’re looking for quick recall and spitting out information, and that is not learning.” He added that “If you focus on the learning first and attend to the strategies that allow that to strengthen, the grades will come. This can take some pressure off the numbers and remind students that it is about this sweep of your whole time in high school and how you are going to show up at college.” 

The article peels back the layers behind a GPA and addresses how it is not really about the number. “It’s what is in the student, and that is always our first focus,” says Mrs. Weiskopf. “That is not to take away from students whose GPAs are through the stratosphere, but we work hard to ensure students and families see this is a small piece of what you bring to a learning community.”