It looks like there's support for at least partially returning to letter grades on report cards in Wake County elementary schools
The school board's student achievement committee voted today in favor of a section of this draft grading R&P calling for letter grades to be used on report cards in third-, fourth- and fifth-grades. The committee also told staff to use a 10-point grading scale for those grades with an A being 90 to 100, a B being to 80 and 89 and so on.
That's different from the seven-point grading scale used in middle school and high school. The committee discussed moving to a 10-point scale in middle school. They have to leave the seven-point scale in place for high school because that's mandated under state law.
An A in elementary school would mean the same wording as the 3* grade but with the word mastery replacing proficiency. A B grade would be the Level 3 wording. With some wording changes, a C would be a Level 2 and a D would be Level I. They'd come up with new wording for an F.
Board members said families and even some elementary school teachers don't fully understand the 1-4 system that's been used countywide since 2004. For instance, Ruth Steidinger, senior director for middle school programs, conceded that the district could have done a better job of conveying when a 4 should be given to a student.
School board member Deborah Prickett has been pushing for the return to letter grades since she was elected in 2009.
The committee discussed but didn't take action on the rest of the R&P or the policy. I'll get into that more tomorrow.
Comments
State Law!
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 19:10 — Bob_SconceSo, the General Assembly thinks that it has all the knowledge it needs to dictate how grades should function??! Absolutely and purely idiotic.
It's done to standardize
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:06 — KeungHui (author)It's done to standardize transcripts for all public high schools in the state. It could be messy if some high schools use a 10-point scale while others use a seven-point scale.
Yeah...
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:37 — Bob_SconceSo, I understand the thought, but I still think it's dumb. That might have made sense when the furthest people moved was from Chapel Hill to Durham. But, now, we have people going to/from public and private schools all over the country.
Besides, so what if school A has a 10-point scale while school B has a 7-point scale? Heck, I think teachers ought to be able to set their own scales -- if one wants a 10-point scale and another wants a 7-point scale, they ought to be able to do it.
New core assessments used in 47 states
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 06:30 — NC4kidsIt will be interesting that IF the same assessments are used in 47 states, that adopted the new core, will grade the same. Someday "soon", the same test with a score of 84 in NC mean a C or 2.0 GPA, yet in most other states, it would be a B or 3.0? This might affect our children's competitiveness in getting into non-NC colleges who might forget on Page 5 of the application that NC is on a different 7 point scale.
Regardless, maybe the Wake HS transcripts should show the 84 number or % grade, like Wilmington/New Hanover transcripts do (I hear.) Then, colleges out of state could recalculate GPA on a 10 point scale.
maybe time to start advocating for consistency...not just between teachers and schools, but between LEA and states? But a step at a time..
But if the admissions person
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 07:05 — DrActualFactualBut if the admissions person "forgets" that NC is on a 7 point scale by the time they get to page 5, they could just as likely "forget" to recalculate the GPA from a 7 to 10 point scale. NC may need to adopt a 10 point scale so that the ability to move between schools/states is more seamless and does not have the possibility to penalize NC resident students. I tried to google/search for the NC statute to see if I could find out when that went into effect and perhaps even why but had no success. What would it take to get the statute changed? Does WCPSS have to request that change or can a private citizen back it?
State advocacy
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 07:25 — NC4kidsOfcourse a citizen can request it, but numbers and the Wake Board adding it to their Legislative Agenda might be more effective. Our state board of ed person is Kevin D. Howell, 3rd Education District
NC State University External Affairs
Campus Box 7001
Raleigh, NC 27695
919.515.9340
kevin.howell@dpi.nc.gov
And our local NC general Assemlly people can be found at http://www.ncleg.net/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.html
not a specific state law
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 08:33 — NC4kidsno sense advocating to General Assembly as 'scales' are not a specific law. State Policy GSC-L-004 refers to statute GS 116-11(10a) for general powers. So this is a State Board advocacy item (as far as I know!)
10 pt scale
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 10:53 — jenandjonJust an FYI that you've got a supporter here of a 10 pt scale. Let me know if you need me to sign/support etc.
I also liked my ES in KY where at K-2 your grades were a U (unsatisfactory) or S (satisfactory) indicating that you either knew the material or you didn't.
Can the Wake Board add items
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 07:38 — DrActualFactualCan the Wake Board add items to their legislative agenda throughout the year or do they only present an agenda once a year? (I hear ya on the power of numbers and endorsement by the board, just thought that perhaps it may be faster and/or more timely for a private citizen to try to advance the change a bit earlier instead of waiting for the next legislative cycle.) Thanks for the contact info.
Legislative agenda
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 07:49 — NC4kidsHonestly, I don't know about timing. There used to be a Legislative Committee made of staff from all areas of WCPSS, but we lost that part-time position who used to advocate for us. I just emailed Judith Peppler who has that on her plate, with many other things. I got an out-of-office reply for now.
Not being anonymous
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 07:54 — NC4kidsI was never comfortable with the anonymity of these blogs, but at this point, not worth updating my logon as I rarely post, except on this topic. So, if you want to keep in touch with me on this topic, I am Nancy Caggia and my email is nc3nbc at aol.com. I will let you know about the response on the Legislative agenda. i have been asking about this at DPI for about a year...but obviously not the right person/people. So we keep trying!
State Board policy #
Fri, 05/11/2012 - 08:06 — NC4kidsHere's the/a Policy that would need to be changed: (but I can't post it) So, if you google NC DPI State Board Policy GCS-L-004, you'll find it.
interesting...
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 18:49 — turnerk1It is interesting that they are using the basically the same wording for the letter grades as the 1-4 grades. I remember specifically attending a meeting about the 1-4 grades when they were implemented where we were told several times that a 3 could not be equated to a letter grade because standards-based grading was so different from what they had been doing. Maybe not so much...
Getting rid of 3 *
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 21:16 — NC4kidsThere was also talk about getting rid of 3* and using the description of 3* to be a 4. So now a 4 would mean "Demonstrates proficiency of targeted grade level standards with evidence of application over time." if this is approved. What and how a student earned a 4 used to be so ambiguous and often there were not opportunities for a student to earn a 4. A Level 3 " Demonstrates proficiency of targeted grade level standard." would remain the same.
...
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 20:28 — SideburnsInteresting indeed.
Keung, is this committee recommending just replacing the 1-4 rating with A, B, C, etc. in 3rd thru 5th but not correlating the letter grade with an actual percentage? For example, if a student is considered proficient (the old 3*), they will now receive an A -- regardless of whether they achieve a 90% or above. Or am I reading too much into this?
Keep in mind what I said in
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:03 — KeungHui (author)Keep in mind what I said in the post about how they'd replace the word "proficiency" with the word "mastery" when applying the 3* wording to the A grade.
Mastery
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:23 — NC4kidsIt'd be great with " mastery " in that rewording...which might have only been discussed in the middle of the table...not a full discussion or thumbs up/down by all hearing it. But it's great that this topic is being discussed and maybe closer to decisions...we can hope.
Martin suggested using
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:58 — KeungHui (author)Martin suggested using mastery instead of proficiency and Steidinger said it made sense so it looks like that's what will be brought back on the next go around.
Grade "descriptions"
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 21:42 — NC4kidsCan see where you couldn't connect the dots there. The 10 point scale will be used for grades 3-8. They are changing the descriptions for what an A-F means.
Actually, the committee was
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:04 — KeungHui (author)Actually, the committee was undecided about switching to the 10-point scale for middle school. One of the concerns is that it would be inconsistent with the high school scale.
Draft
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:14 — NC4kidsYes, sorry...it's all draft and discussion at this point and there was only one thumbs up/down taken entire meeting. Decisions just got to be made on that elusive behavior rubric and really deciding what do we really mean by the term "behavior". Is it......fidgiting, talking too much, Homework, timliness, participation, lab notebooks, neatness, or even cheating, etc?
And then if it/"behavior" with all /or probably some of its definitions belongs in:
1.THE grade/GPA;
2. separate grade or section on report card;
3. or comment section or reference letters,
4. or not reported at all.
...
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 17:26 — SideburnsIt is my understanding that WCPSS has never reviewed the 1-4 system since it was implemented in all our elementary schools.
Keung, is that true?
They did a report in 2008 on
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 17:29 — KeungHui (author)They did a report in 2008 on standards-based grading. Click here for the report.
How about that list of available seats at all schools?
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 20:43 — FSandYOUDo we have that yet?
If not, why not?
Still manipulating
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 21:22 — Solon77They are still manipulating the capacity numbers so the facts support the story they are about to tell.
...
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 21:48 — SideburnsWow, is Dulaney back? :)
Dulaney back ?
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:01 — Solon77Seems that Dulaney is a member of the Alves Consulting group.
Oh good gravy please tell me
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 22:57 — jenmanOh good gravy please tell me you're joking.
Wrong subcommittee
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 21:23 — NC4kidsThis topic was discussed at the Student Achievement Comittee, NOT the student assignment (again). Can we finally start talking about What our kids are learning, and Why, and how Well they are learning and growing --sometimes occassionally in this school system --not just the Where?