Prince George’s school system to review its grading policy

[Anonymous]

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/prince-georges-school-system-to-review-its-grading-policy/2014/01/10/7ffe4482-7a0b-11e3-af7f-13bf0e9965f6_story.html

The Prince George’s County school system plans to review its grading policy to assess the purposes of evaluating students on their academic performance, including whether homework should be graded, if behavior should be a factor and whether students are given enough credit for showing improvement.

School officials plan to convene a group of parents, educators and students to examine the county’s grading policy and recommend possible revisions. The decision to review the grading policy comes as Prince George’s, one of the worst-performing school systems in Maryland, explores ways to improve student academic performance.

The pace of student achievement and the effect it has had on attracting businesses and residents played a major role in County Executive Rushern L. Baker III’s decision to try to take over the school system last year. State legislation was ultimately approved that changed the school system’s governance structure and gave Baker (D) more input into the leadership of the county’s educational system.

School board members had a lively discussion at their meeting Thursday of the ramifications of altering grading policies, including the effects of potentially inflating achievement scores and social promotion of students who are not performing at grade level.

Member Verjeana M. Jacobs (District 5) said she was concerned that any policy change that results in better student grades could make it appear as though the county made improvements in student achievement, while masking a lack of mastery of the subject matter.

“If we change the grading policy .?.?. mathematically it’s going to be higher,” Jacobs said. “It’s not a magic bullet, but it’s a way to demonstrate kids are doing better. I’m not saying it’s bad. But I don’t know if it is good.”

Board member Daniel A. Kaufman cautioned that making changes based on behavioral conduct or improvement could result in social promotion or allowing students to advance simply because “they tried hard.” He said those types of changes would not help students compete nationally or internationally.

“If we pass them because they behave well in class or because they tried hard, that does a disservice to the child,” Kaufman said. “That does not help them to become college- and career-ready.”

Under the county’s current policy, grades are calculated by weighing classwork, homework and tests. Second graders through eighth graders receive grades on an A (excellent progress) to E (unsatisfactory progress) scale. High school students are graded throughout the year on a numeric scale from zero to 100, and final grades are converted to letter grades.

Chief Academic Officer A. Duane Arbogast said behavior and continuous improvement are not codified in the policy, leaving such measures subjective. “Grading is one of those things that teachers have to find an equilibrium with their own integrity,” Arbogast said.

[Anonymous]

Another sad day in Prince George's County. Don't give our kids a false sense of hope and achievement.

[Anonymous]

I like Fairfax County's elementary report card -- scroll ot the end of this document for an example:

http://www.fcps.edu/is/schoolcounseling/documents/ElementaryGradingandReportingHandbookparents.pdf