Lake Country This Month

By Lauren Anderson Freeman Staff WAUKESHA — For generations, students have anticipated the joy of receiving a covet- ed "A" on their report card — and just as fer- vently dreaded seeing an "F" in its place. A long-standing practice in schools, the A-F grading system is a culturally embedded framework for measuring success and fail- ure. But as a growing number of schools trade in those traditional marks for what they say provide better indicators of student progress, A's, F's and everything in between could soon become things of the past for the next gener- ation of learners. School districts both locally and nationally are shifting to what is called "standards- based" grading — a system that, as the name suggests, organizes grading and report cards to reflect a student's achievement in relation to specific standards. When it comes to report cards, parents are seeing new phrases attached to their child's learning progress — descriptors like "approaching proficiency in standards." Some say the new phrasing is confusing and they prefer the familiarity of the system they remember from their student days. And because the goal is reaching proficien- cy in those standards, students under the new system are often afforded more opportunities to submit assignments. School leaders say this encourages students in their learning, rather than penalizing them for not knowing what they haven't yet learned. But for some parents, the idea of retaking assignments suggests that schools are going soft on students. Better feedback School leaders say standards-based grading provides more meaningful feedback to par- ents and supports students in their learning. But it also requires a paradigm shift for many moms and dads. That's the case in the Pewaukee School Dis- trict, where, as of this fall, every school has switched to the new grading and reporting model. "It's a key shift for some people, because what you and I experienced is a grading sys- tem that has been in place for 150 years," Pewaukee School District Chief Academic Officer Mike Cady said. "Communicating this effectively and creat- ing this in a format that makes sense to par- ents is difficult because when you use a tradi- tional system, you have your own experience to draw from and it makes sense. But when we go to a new system, it's difficult to wrap your head around how to interpret it." To understand the new system, it's impor- tant to understand what school leaders con- sider to be the shortcomings of the previous one. The traditional grading system has roots tracing back to the factory-like school model of the industrial age, by which students were sorted and ranked, Cady said. Classes were often graded on a curve, with a student being compared to the one sitting next to him. It's a system in which there are clear winners and losers, Cady said. An advantage of the new grading model, Cady said, is that students are measured against learning standards, which are objec- tive, rather than against their peers' academ- ic progress. Moreover, in a traditional system that rewards point accumulation, it wasn't uncommon for students' good behavior to be reflected in their grades. Being on time con- sistently or submitting every assignment might earn students a several-point boost to their grades. Now, schools are increasingly separating their evaluation of non-academic behaviors, such as work ethic and collaboration, from a student's proficiency in standards. Under that system, a student who doesn't turn his assignment wouldn't receive a zero that's then averaged into his overall grade. That doesn't reflect his knowledge of the subject at hand, Cady said, it reflects a behavior. And while that behavior isn't condoned, the stu- dent would likely be afforded another oppor- tunity to demonstrate actual learning. Harder sell for high-school parents Standards-based grading tends to be a hard- er sell among parents of high schoolers because of the higher stakes attached to report cards, GPAs and transcripts. Cady said some parents are concerned that it will somehow hurt their son or daughter's college application when it's stacked up against another student coming from a more traditional grading system. And while Cady said the fears are unfounded, the district has tried to make the newly adopted high school grading system feel as familiar as possible. That points to the tension educators face: the balance of doing what they consider best practice for student learning while also try- ing to communicate it to parents for whom those practices are unfamiliar. The Waukesha School District has recently simplified its grading scales at the high school and middle school levels in response to parents' concerns that it's too confusing. "So much of what we knew behind scenes from lesson to lesson made its way on the report card," Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction Ryan Krohn said. "And it's great information if it's understood but also confusing if it's not. Finding that bal- ance is important." Still, Krohn contends, the biggest winner in the new grading system is the student, who at any moment has much more information about which standards he or she is proficient at and which ones need more work. "I believe we're at a time when there is more feedback available than ever before," Krohn said. "The students themselves are best at using our system. They're able to tell you day to day and definitely week to week what levels of mastery they are at in relation to standards." Krohn said that as schools improve in reporting the most important information regarding students' learning to their parents, everyone benefits. "Hopefully, report cards become a two-way form of communication, rather than a one- way report," he said. Email: landerson@conleynet.com Page 6 • FREEMAN & ENTERPRISE LAKE COUNTRY SEPTEMBER 2015 Back row - Paul Bucher, Paul Kntzer, Thomas Simon, Steven Lownik Front row - Jodie Massey, Susan Calvanico, Deborah Mueller We now handle wills and probate Our staff is available 24/7 to provide immediate intervention with the expertise and legal acumen to assist with the many needs of our clients. We are located in Delafield at 355 Austin Circle, Suite 110. To schedule a free consultation, please contact us at (262) 303-4916, or visit our website at www.bucherlawgroup.com When You Are Really in Trouble... Bucher Law Group, LLC, has over 100 years legal experience, with five staff attorneys to assist you with every legal need. 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Share your thoughts and look for your comments in an upcoming issue of the daily Freeman. Please sign your name and provide a phone number for verification. Phone: 262-513-2641 Email: soundoff@conleynet.com SOUND OFF Let Us Help You with the Tasks of Every Day Living We are … "AT YOUR SERVICE" Inc. In-Home Care for Older Adults SM SM 245972002 Let's Have a Conversation 262-646-8668 www.weare-atyourservice.com The FREEMAN Waukesha County's Daily Newspaper Education Reporter Lauren Anderson To subscribe, call 262-542-2500 or go online at: gmtoday.com/subscribe about news in our schools. from Lauren Learn about news in our schools. from Lauren Learn Not your parents' report card Schools switching to standards-based grading FOCUS ON EDUCATION In case you missed it The rising cost of textbooks: For Lauren Anderson's recent story on the rising cost of textbooks and the burden it's placed on students, visit GM Today at http://bit.ly/1JFKpw0

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