Why the jump from D to F? Just wondering. Thanks.
It would have made it a lot easier for me to change an “E” to a “B” on my papers than changing the “D” or “F”.
It’s just as easy to change an F into a B…
I think some schools do use E as a failing grade. But usually F stands for Fail. You normally have 4 passing grade levels so you end up with A, B, C, D, and Fail.
Some universities use E instead of F. For example, the University of Florida.
When I was in Elementary School, possible grades were E(xcellent), S(atisfactory), and U(nsatisfactory). When I graduated to Middle School and into the A-B-C-D-F grading system, I just figured that E was already spoken for, and they were trying to avoid possible confusion amongst the newly initiated 6th graders that might be pleased to earn an “E”.
But there was once an “E” in school! I have an old report card of my father, from elementary school in the 1950’s, which shows a grading scale of:
90-100: A
80-89: B
70-79: C
60-69: D
50-59: E
Below 50: F
So, at least at his school, there was once an “E” used. This may have happened elsewhere.
I beg to differ. 
Plus, F can easily be turned into an “A+”
It takes a pretty steady hand to change an F or E to a B, especially if the letter was originally typed.
However, changing and F to an E only requires on very small straight line. That was a reason it was dropped.
When I was in elementary school, the conventional wisdom held that if you tried hard and just couldn’t cut it you could get an “E for effort.” I never knew anyone to actually receive such a grade, though.
My high school used “E” for a failed midterm grade, and “F” for a failed final grade. This was in Esquimalt, a suburb of Victoria, British Columbia.
Have you ever noticed around here that 99% of the time when someone asks a question like, “Why don’t they ever…?” the answer is, yes, they do too.
I remember that report cards in my school system used to have "E"s. I never got one, of course.
In Michigan(where I am), I’ve never seen F’s. We only have A-E.
This goes for the elementary, middle, high schools, and colleges.
I had F’s in my Michigan high school (well, not me, but they were there…). The reasoning for my school to skip over the E’s was that anything below a D was a failing grade, so it didn’t matter if you got an E over an F, because you wouldn’t get credit for it anyway. I think the F just got used instead of the E because it’s the lowest, failing score.
We used to have "E"s on our report cards when I was a kid, too. That was the 1960s. My guess is that few Es were ever given out – a “D” is pretty bad, and an “F” is a Fail or Flunk. My guess is that they didn’t need that many gradations, and the lowest non-failing wasn’t used. “F” was retained instead of “E” because it’s the first letter of “Fail” (or “Flunk”).
My high school had A-B-C-D-E. E was failing. My college had A-B-C-D-F. F was failing.
I always assumed that someone decided that “F stands for Fail” trumped the logic of 5 consecutive letters. Since the other four letters don’t stand for any words, I thought that was silly. Still do, in fact.
I don’t think it has anything to do with grade changing. If your gonna change an E to a B then F is just one straight line away. I think it has to do with E being used for Excellent in many elementary schools. There is also the benefit of a clear seperation between passing and failing.
Here’s a better question. Other than American stubborness and “tradition,” why the fark are we still using letters? Why not the same number system Europe uses?
My elementary school used E for a grade, and the best grade at that. We had E (for Excellent), S (for Satisfactory) and N (for Needs Improvement). This was mid- to late-1970s in South Carolina.
And Canada! We use percentages. All of my marks are 90’s, of course. 