The Denton school district will host a discussion on secondary school grading practices at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Guyer High School.
The featured speaker will be Tom Schimmer, an education author and consultant from Canada who has delivered keynote presentations around the world and has led presentations with Denton educators, according to the district.
Schimmer’s presentation is scheduled to highlight “the research and rationale for grading changes, how the changes align with current university practices and [offer] tips on how parents can help students deepen their understanding of academic content,” a district announcement states.
After Schimmer’s presentation, there will be breakout sessions where administrators and educators from the district’s seven middle schools and three comprehensive high schools will discuss the new grading practices and answer questions.
“We wanted to share some of the research and education practices behind our decision to make some of the changes that we did,” said David Hicks, the district’s executive director for secondary academic programs. “We wanted to continue dialogue with our parents and community members about the [grading] changes and implementation at each campus.
“Our hope is to share information with our community and gather feedback on the implementation of our assessment practices so that we can refine our practices and provide as much information as we can on student learning to our parents and our students.”
This fall, the district began a new grading system in secondary schools. Students receive grades for final drafts, tests, quizzes and projects, but their grades are not penalized for poor behavior or late, missing or incomplete homework.
Under the new system, students no longer receive grades for homework. However, they have opportunities to redo quizzes, tests and research papers if they say they’ve made improvement by going to a tutor, meeting with a teacher or doing alternative assignments.
Some parents are encouraging anyone with children in secondary school to attend the discussion and ask questions and voice concerns about the grading policy.
One high school parent, who asked not be identified, said she can admire the district for trying a new grading system, but “it is a massive failure so far.” She said honor students are failing classes and their GPAs are “tanking.” The mother said she doesn’t see how it can be improved.
“People are falling apart. It is a mess of monumental proportions,” she said.
With the new grading procedures, the district converted to a nine-week grading period for middle and high schools. Teachers turned in grades for the first period on Oct. 17, and report cards are slated to be distributed this week.
Hicks, who was out of the office Monday, said he did not have specific information regarding outcomes for the first grading period. He said principals are monitoring their schools’ results and will report their findings to district administrators this week.
In recent weeks, Hicks said, the district has received several questions from parents who are attempting to understand the new grading process.
Campus administrators and school board members discussed the changes at the board’s Sept. 14 meeting.
A school board member asked campus administrators about how the grading policy was going and whether they felt comfortable with the direction the district was heading.
Dan Ford, Denton High School principal, said he is “a huge proponent of standards-based grading” and the philosophy behind the new system. He said that as the district continues to get training and feedback, “it’s going to be something that will take hold and be real beneficial for our kids many years down the road.”
“I think we have to approach it with an open mindset. … When you look at what it’s doing, it’s actually putting the emphasis back on the student to take ownership in their learning and it’s representing what students actually know instead of what has typically been done in the past,” Ford said at the meeting. “We get the opportunity now to inform as a parent. I know when my daughter gets a grade, this is what she knows. So, an 80 is indicative of her percentage of mastery towards the standard, and that’s what learning is about.
“It’s a shift, it’s a change, and like anything else, it’s going to take time. There’s implementation dips and there’s issues that come up.”
Hawk Elementary School piloted a similar system in the 2012-13 school year.
Hawk Principal Susannah O’Bara said she can relate to what parents are experiencing at the secondary level because she is a parent of a Denton middle school student. The “tremendous difference” she’s seen is that her child’s teacher is not letting the student off the hook for not knowing the material, she said at the Sept. 14 meeting.
“I think we’ve looked at it very much as grading, and we have to look at it as a bigger picture of how we’re using the assessment to ensure that children learn,” O’Bara said. “We do have some implementation gaps and some problems and obstacles that we’re working through, and I know that.
“I know when Hawk did it, we had to work through these things, as well, but I know because I’ve lived it through my own children and the 700-plus children that go through Hawk [that] what we are doing is creating better students and better learners. Instead of grading them … we are expecting them to know it.”
Superintendent Jamie Wilson said at the Sept. 14 meeting that the district will continue receiving feedback and will modify and adjust the grading system accordingly.
“It’s a process that we continue to work through, and I can tell you this, even if the student’s grade is lower now than it was this time last year, they’ve probably learned more,” he told board members. “The learning is deeper, even though the grade may not reflect that because of the way the grades look, and I think that we’ve got to continue to focus on the learning, and we’ll work through this grading situation.”
