What are your thoughts on the following recommendations?

Recommendation One: Assess academic progress separate from behavior/work habits

The current School Board policy (6-72) on assessing scholastic achievement says: The School Board believes that the most important assessment of student learning is conducted by teachers as they observe and evaluate students in the context of ongoing classroom activities. The teacher, as an agent of the school board, has the responsibility of evaluating student progress and proving grades to represent scholastic achievement. Grading is not to be used for discipline purposes.

Viewing the act of grading solely as a communication of a student’s mastery of content and also recognizing the importance of sound study habits to student success, the Fair and Equitable Grading Committee recommends both categories of performance should be clearly communicated to students and parents. However, the committee suggests reporting progress for academics and behaviors apart from one another.

This means the final grade on any assessment should reflect a student’s academic understanding of the stated learning objectives, and his/her individual work habits should be assessed - and reported - separately. The committee further recommends the use of a proficiency rubric to assess and report work habits. Examples of work habits may include but are not limited to: homework completion, timeliness, and organization.  

As an example of what this reporting could look like, see the sample report card below:

What behaviors do you feel should be considered and graded separately by teachers? These behaviors could include, but are not limited to, homework completion, timeliness and organization. 

Recommendation Two: Revise the current grading scale

According to School Board Regulation 6-72.1, the current grading scale is:

• A = (93 – 100)
• A- = (90 – 92)
• B+ = (87 – 89)
• B = (83 – 86)
• B- = (80 – 82)
• C+ = (77 – 79)
• C = (73 – 76)
• C- = (70 – 72)
• D+ = (67 – 69)
• D = (64 – 66)
• E = Below 64

The committee felt changes needed to be made to the school division’s current grading scale. Specifically, the committee agreed today’s 100-point grading scale is too heavily weighted toward student failure. For example, in the current grading scale students have 36 opportunities for a passing grade and 64 opportunities for a failing grade.

The committee recommends the division explore grading scale options that do not eliminate zeros but mitigate their impact on the student's final grade.

Example One:

Example Two:

Current Scale:

Recommendation Three: Make the Fair and Equitable Grading Committee a standing committee to review and monitor division grading practices and make recommendations as needed.

Recognizing the complexity of the conversation around inconsistencies with grading, the committee recommends this work continue on a regular basis. The committee acknowledges this set of recommendations does not address all concerns about grading, and notes that ongoing dialogue on these issues will only enhance VBCPS grading practices.