Letter
grades leaving schools
New system aims to be more
specific about achievement.
Thursday, October 20, 2005 • By SARAH CASSI •
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG -- Beginning this school
year, the district is replacing the traditional letter grade
report cards with numerically-rated progress
reports.
About 30 parents learned about the new
standards during an informational meeting Wednesday night at
the Green Street School.
Pat Cawley, director of elementary
education, said all elementary students will be "graded" on
a scale of one to four, with one equaling performance below
grade level and four meaning advanced
proficiency.
"A, B, C doesn't tell you how your
youngster is doing toward the standards," Cawley said,
adding that a student's numerical rating is not compared to
other students' in the class.
Cawley said the progress reports are
based on the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards,
and those standards correlate with state testing.
Besides creating new standards, the
reports standardize elementary school grading; previously,
students in kindergarten through second grade received
grades of outstanding, satisfactory and unsatisfactory while
students in the third through fifth grades received
traditional letter grades.
Instead of receiving letter grades,
students will be rated on specific topics in each
subject.
For instance, in mathematics, students
would receive number grades on their understanding of whole
numbers, fractions and decimals, and their use of estimation
strategies.
The report cards at the middle and high
school levels will remain the same for now, Cawley
said.
The progress reports were developed by
the district over six months with the help of a 15-member
committee.
Rosalie Mancino, elementary curriculum
supervisor for grades kindergarten through five, chaired the
committee and said a number of districts nationwide adopted
the progress report format.
"All the students need to reach certain
standards by the end of the grade level," Mancino said.
"Because of No Child Left Behind we are forced to base our
teaching on standards. What better way to report back to
parents what their students are doing than the progress
reports? Parents learn much more."
Mancino said district officials have met
with individual school administrators and elementary
teachers have received training in the new
format.
Gail Paul, whose granddaughter is an
elementary school student, attended the meeting. Paul said
the progress reports will be better than the traditional
letter grades because they explain what the students are
learning in class.
Other parents were less enthused about
the new reports.
"There's too much pressure for them to
excel in everything they touch I think this is just
ridiculous," one father said, adding the reformat was done
too quickly.
Cawley said handbooks explaining the new
reports will be sent to parents before the first progress
reports are issued during parent conferences beginning Nov.
14. The reports will be issued four times over the current
school year.
Next year, however, the reports will be
issued every 60 days, or three times a year, Cawley said.
Teachers have expressed concerns about reducing the number
of progress reports sent home to parents. Cawley said
officials are considering mid-term reports to compensate for
the extended marking periods.
Reporter Sarah Cassi can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by
e-mail at scassi@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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