Grading Calculation Changes Reflect Staff and Parent Input
As promised, our Standards-Based Education (SBE) system will evolve as we receive suggestions from parents and staff. As we've rolled out the new system, the grading process has been discussed at length – particularly how grades are calculated.
In response, the district's staff is working to update Go2, the online grading system, to make a change that will do two things: 1) Reduce the number of assessments that must be completed before a student's progress in meeting a power standard can be reported; and 2) Give parents insights into how their students are doing earlier in the school year.
Here's what has changed:
Beginning November 15, a student receives a "yes," indicating he or she has met the standard when one learning target has been assessed and met once. (This has changed from the original practice in which, for a student to receive a "yes," one learning target had to be assessed and met twice.)Here's what has not changed:
A student receives an "IP", indicating he or she is making progress in meeting the standard when:- One learning target has been assessed once and not met OR:
- One learning target has been assessed twice and met once. (It remains an "IP" until a second positive assessment is recorded.)
From the start, our goals in transitioning to Standards-Based Education were to provide a more equitable system of education for all children, to give teachers a powerful tool for teaching, and to empower parents to be knowledgeable partners in their child's education. We believe this change is a step in the right direction toward fully realizing our goals.
Posted: November 17, 2011