Kelley Connor’s second-year Spanish students filed into her classroom at Emerald Ridge High School. They sat down at their desks and pulled out their notebooks.
After taking a quiz on verb conjugation, the students followed along as Connor went over the correct answers. Some hands shot up with questions.
Not long ago, those kinds of behaviors – showing up to class, participating in activities – were factors in deciding the overall grades of students in Puyallup schools.
But this year, Pierce County’s second-largest school district is beginning to phase in a new approach in junior highs and high schools; it is separating out those behaviors and instead basing grades solely on academic performance.
No more points just for turning in your work on time. No more grading on the curve.
The concept, known as standards-based grading, has been around for years and is used across the country.
It has drawn debate in other districts. Supporters say it provides a better picture of what students actually learn; critics argue it minimizes important factors such as classroom behavior and deemphasizes homework.
Some parents worry their children’s grade point average and college admissions may take a hit.
The change also comes at a time of uncertainty for older students and their families, and the staff who work in Puyallup’s secondary schools. A committee of parents, teachers and administrators has until March 2013 to recommend whether to switch from junior highs to middle schools.
At Emerald Ridge, some students say they like standards-based grading so far.
Adam Fernando, 17, a junior in Connor’s Spanish class, said he’s still motivated to attend and participate because he knows that’s how he learns the material he is graded on.
Sydney Stout, 16, also a junior, said she started out with mixed feelings but now thinks the new system “shows what you need to work on in class.”
Other districts in the South Sound use a similar approach. Federal Way Public Schools is implementing it district-wide, and Sumner School District is running a middle school pilot program. Sumner already uses standards-based grading in elementary schools.
Tacoma Public Schools is moving toward the system in elementary classrooms.
Puyallup schools already use standards-based grading in elementary schools. The grading changes at the secondary level (grades 7-12) grew out of work done by a committee of parents, teachers and administrators that began meeting last year.
The group was charged with analyzing grading practices in the district’s 11 junior highs and high schools – one of several goals the school board set for 2010 through 2013.
The board adopted an updated grading policy this summer; new regulations have been approved and take effect next year. Highlights include:
n No longer factoring effort, attendance, improvement, deadline adherence and behavior into achievement grades.
n No more penalizing students with reduced marks for work that’s turned in late. Instead, teachers are to work with students on the behavior without lowering the grade.
n No more grading on a curve.
n Allowing students to re-take tests in some cases, provided they show evidence they’ve studied or practiced more.
There’s also a new standardized grading scale on secondary-school report cards. Behavior still will be reflected on them, but it will be clearly separated from academic grades, officials said.
The reason for the changes is for grades to reflect how well students meet learning standards set by the state, and to create consistency in grading across the district, said Chrys Sweeting, assistant superintendent of student programs, curriculum and assessment.
Susan Whitney, who has two children in secondary schools in Puyallup and is on the grading practices committee, said she supports the new approach.
“The idea is to get the students to learn the material – and that’s what we all want as parents,” she said. But, like some other Puyallup parents she’s heard from, Whitney also has concerns. One of her sons is a high school junior, and she worries how his GPA could be affected. She also said the new approach is moving forward pretty quickly.
The district is holding a series of information meetings on the changes starting this week, and “I try to encourage (parents) to come and ask questions,” she said.
At Emerald Ridge, Connor is putting the practices to work in her classes. This is her ninth year teaching in the district; she is on grading practices committee.
She said a benefit she sees is that “it makes students responsible for their learning and accountable for their learning.”
“It’s not, ‘how can I earn more points?’” Connor said. “It’s ‘what can I do to learn this better?’ ”
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058
sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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