New grading system for school district--insane!

[spima3]

Ok, our school district, usual great minds at work, have changed the way they grade.

Instead of grading 60's, 70's up to 90's, or even D, C, B, A's, they have started grading 1,2, 3 or 4.

I can't remember exactly why, something to do with standarized testing scores, but it seems they are grading for mediocraty! Almost all the kids end up w/ 3's. The grade range for a 3 is 80 to 96. That's insane. All the parents hate it, the teachers hate it, but the superintendant did it anyway.

Anyone else have a school district doing this, or thinking about it. Anyone have a good reason why? I am thinking about starting a letter writing campaign to get complain about it. (one teacher even suggested contacting the super and complaining about it, they hate it so much). It would be great to have some good points for addressing this. Maybe some teachers out there have experience with this?

thx,
lori

 

[Sherri]

Ok, our school district, usual great minds at work, have changed the way they grade.

Instead of grading 60's, 70's up to 90's, or even D, C, B, A's, they have started grading 1,2, 3 or 4.

I can't remember exactly why, something to do with standarized testing scores, but it seems they are grading for mediocraty! Almost all the kids end up w/ 3's. The grade range for a 3 is 80 to 96. That's insane. All the parents hate it, the teachers hate it, but the superintendant did it anyway.

Anyone else have a school district doing this, or thinking about it. Anyone have a good reason why? I am thinking about starting a letter writing campaign to get complain about it. (one teacher even suggested contacting the super and complaining about it, they hate it so much). It would be great to have some good points for addressing this. Maybe some teachers out there have experience with this?

thx,
lori

In elementary schools in our district they use a rubric. Sounds like what you may be describing. However in the higher grades they give actual grades still. I did not care much for the rubric system, but thats just my personal opinion.

 

[HelenePA]

Ours changed to that system YEARS ago... when I was still in school and I've been out for sometime! Sorry you dont like it... change is not for the best sometimes.

 

[hentob]

The grade range for a 3 is 80 to 96. That's insane. All the parents hate it, the teachers hate it, but the superintendant did it anyway.

OMG...So a child that gets an 80% on a test is considered at the same level as a child who received a 96%?

That can't be right

 

[agnes!]

Time to fire the School Superintendent.

agnes!

 

[mandy200587]

That sounds like something our former school superintendent would do. He's no longer one but the state had to come in and put down a strict grading scale for the lottery scholarship, of course it's after I left all the changes took place. He also got rid of block schudeling even with the huge amount of complaints he was given. Don't get me started on the money he wasted on a program of his.

That grading system isn't fairin all honestly.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Here in MA we have the MCAS testing.

The schools insist they are not teaching for the MCAs, yet, they just restructured the reports cards to show the same grade as MCAS. A for advanced P for proficient and NI for needs improvement.

A= 90-100
P= 70-89
NI= 69 and below

so did they get rid if the B's or the C's?

The town we used to live in had a 1-4 grade system.

I need to stop obsessing about my kids reports cards, I am driving myself crazy!

 

[auntpolly]

My DD's private school had a 1-7 grading system -- it seemed weird at first but we came to like it because it was much better at measuring progress and seeing where she really was.

It was a little hard for colleges to compare her to other schools, but it worked out.

 

[mickeyboat]

Is this for elementary school, middle school or high school. I would say for the lower grades, it wouldn't matter that much, but for the upper grades, I hate that system!

Denae

 

[spima3]

OMG...So a child that gets an 80% on a test is considered at the same level as a child who received a 96%?
That can't be right

Yes, that is correct! That's why everyone thinks it's rediculous. Why bother trying to excell when you can skate by and still end up w/ the same grade?

Mediocraty in a world that is becoming increasingly globalized and where the
US is starting to fall behind. Where do they come up w/ this stuff?

lori

 

[maslex]

My high school used this system. If I remember correctly.....

5=A
4=B
3=C
2=D
1=F

I don't believe though that it's fair for two people to get the same grade if one gets an 80 and the other gets a 96. That's ludicrous.

 

[Makdyn]

My dd school just change to that this year. When I first got her report I was like wth. They did have a meeting about it but I did not go cause I was like how hard is it to read a report card. Well it was hard. I had to keep reading the menu. and then there is a separate reading level that is a,b,c,... and they have the chart all the way through high school.

 

[missypie]

Wow! Move to my district here in Texas. Our kids get number grades on their report cards (e.g. 98, 87, etc.) from 1st grade on up! I personally think that's too fine a line....you find yourself saying to your kid, "Last 6 weeks you got a 98 and this time you got a 95. What happened?"

But the same grade for 80 to 96 is even more insane.

 

[hentob]

Wow! Move to my district here in Texas. Our kids get number grades on their report cards (e.g. 98, 87, etc.) from 1st grade on up!

That's what our school does

 

[Fitswimmer]

Yes, that is correct! That's why everyone thinks it's rediculous. Why bother trying to excell when you can skate by and still end up w/ the same grade?

Mediocraty in a world that is becoming increasingly globalized and where the
US is starting to fall behind. Where do they come up w/ this stuff?

lori

"When everyone is special-nobody is" Dash

I work out with a few teachers and last year they were cracking me up with the new rule that they could no longer use red pens or pencils when they marked papers. (these are middle school teachers) The red markings were felt to be negative and damaging to the student's self esteem. The sad part of all this is that it was SERIOUS. The teachers that told me about it thought it was completely idiotic but they have no choice to go along.
Does it truly make the answer less wrong if it is marked wrong in PURPLE??? Isn't it more important to the student's self esteem that they learn to do math, english, science and all that correctly rather than what color the papers are marked in??
I'm betting the banishment of letter grades is coming from the same motivation.

 

[MariDisney]

Are you in Scranton? My DSis (MrsDisneyFan) is, and she was telling me about this. Our system is screwy, too. In 1st and 2nd grade you get a +, S, or -. The teachers told the kids this year that the S means super. It messed my DD up a little bit because she got mostly +s (which means exceeds grade level expectations) and not Ss (which means satisfactoy/meeting expectations). She was upset because she wanted all "Supers".

 

[snowy76]

They've done that in NY for years to compare apples to apples when it comes to the state tests -- 3 meets standards, 4 meets them with distinction. A 1 or 2 means the kid is not up to snuff. Teachers are encouraged to use the same scale on class work (especially writing) so that the kids understand what a 3 or 4 means, and know what to work for on the state tests.

However, the vast majority of teachers I know still use the traditional 1-100 scale as well, and the high school exams are still scored that way. The 1-4 scale is just another means of measuring. I know when I was a kid, we sometimes got a check, check-plus, or check-minus, or we got Pass/Fail, or when I was very young it was Excellent, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory. It's very similar.

 

[mandy200587]

Ours is number grades.

A=93-100
B=85-92
C=75-84
d=70-74
F=69 and below

 

[disykat]

We have it too. It is very hard to get 4's and it is hard as a teacher to give assignments that merit 4's. In order to get a 4, it has to be beyond your grade level expectations. Expectations are set quite high, making a 4 really above and beyond.

We're new to it this year - and I don't like it either.

 

[RunDanceSkate]

It fits with the rubics. You can also get 4+, 4-, 3+, 3-, 2+, 2-, etc.

A 1 and you are not getting it at all

A 2 and you need some help with the work

If you have a 3 then you are at the provincial standards for that grade level. You understand all the concepts and can do everything with little or no help

If you have a 4 then you are above grade level in that subject. If I see a 4 on my kids spelling test then they got everything right and the bonus words (did you know the longest word in the English language has 45 letters, would you believe my 9 yr old can spell it. That's not beyond grade level, that's beyond my level LOL). Just getting all the words right that they studied for would mean they are at grade level, or in this case a 3.

My DD can get a rubric with everything a 4 except she printed instead of wrote the story in cursive (rubric of 1) and will end up with a 3. She changed schools and missed learning cursive. I like it because I can see exactly why a great story gets a B instead on an A.