School Committee Set To Vote
By: Alex Scofield
Published: 10/02/09
The Bourne School Committee will next week discuss a plan to hand out standards-based report cards to students at Bourne Middle School, rather than the traditional letter grade cards.
The curriculum subcommittee this week voted 2-1 in favor of moving the controversial issue to the full committee, with a recommendation the cards be passed out during this year’s fourth grading term.
Subcommittee member Quimby P. Mahoney voted against the recommendation, saying she would rather wait an entire year before instituting the new grading system.
Parents have criticized the new system, saying it is too vague and encourages mediocrity rather than academic excellence.
However, some teachers have said that they are excited about the new grading system, which they consider more responsive, and would rather implement it immediately, rather than wait a whole year.
The school committee will weigh in on the issue, and likely hear more feedback from teachers and parents, at their meeting on Wednesday, October 7, at 7 PM in the high school’s professional library.
See the full story in this week’s Enterprise.
5 Responses to "School Committee Set To Vote"
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My understanding is that the present system that ranges from D- to A+, provides twelve levels of grading, thirteen including F for failure. The new system provides for 16 levels, but I did not see where it allows for failing students who do not measure up. Is the new system intended to avoid the harsh reality that some students fail and need to repeat classes before they can advance?
Hi--The main difference is not in the grade, but in what is graded. Under the current system, you get 1 grade in a subject: for example, a B- in Science. Under the new system, students will get grades on more than a dozen science subtopics. That way, it is very clear what things (such as ecosystems) a kid really "gets" and which things they really are confused about (such as density). The grades used: ABCDF vs. WNPA, is less of an issue.
It sounds very confusing. Is there a nationally recognized standard that is accepted by all? Will Colleges and Universities accept these new grades for entrance and acceptance?
There is no national standard--we go by Massachusetts' standards. When we first started formulating this new report card, the BHS guidance counselor came to a few meetings and told us that colleges and private schools have no problem figuring out a wide variety of grading and reporting systems. Colleges, at least, couldn't care less about middle school grades.
There are many ways to measure and report if a child is meeting standards that do not require a paradigm shift in how students are graded. Most good teachers place more emphasis on the final exam then they do exams and quizzes that occur earlier in the year. These earlier tests and quizzes are designed to alert the teacher, student and parents if the child is having difficulty with a particular aspect of the course work. The final exam determines if the student mastered all the work. I am not opposed to assessing if standards are being attained by children, a concept that MCAS is based on. I am concerned about Bourne being too proactive in this endeavor before the concept is thoroughly vetted. Some of the questions would be; who is qualified to develop the standards and do they reflect the skills valued most by the specialist in the disciplines? Do standards enliven classrooms, or do they eliminate joy, reduce effort and reduce competition? Will standards make learning more or less important or will they simply provide a minimum that the children must attain that will not challenge the brighter students or motivate those who need the incentive to excel. Finally, it is evident by the literature (Tomlinson, C.A., 2000. Reconcilable Differences? Standards-Based Teaching and Differentiation. Educational Leadership, Vol 58. No 1.; Wheelock, A., 2001. Safe to Be Smart: Building a Culture for Standards-Based Reform in the Middle Grades. NMSA, Waterville Ohio) that there are still many who oppose this type of a system. In fact, a cursory Google search seemed to find more opponents as compared to supporters. Until such a time that this system has been expertly evaluated, I would hope that Bourne would continue to evaluate this system in the elementary grades, and discuss ways to address the many weaknesses of this system that have been well documented in the literature.