Public schools in Virginia Beach aim to change the grading system in middle and high school as they were found to focus more towards failure. The proposal is to revamp the grading system into two: one for academics and the other one for behavior and work habits.
Pilot Online reports that The Fair and Equitable Grading Practices Committee -- made up of teachers, administrators, parents, students, school board members and community members -- wanted to use exams that will clearly reflect students' learning. Under the new proposal, the focus will shift from unnecessary assessments such as home works, previously failed exams and inattention in classroom discussion.
They believe that the current scale used in middle and high school to assess learning is geared towards failure. The committee is expected to present its first report to the School Board in May.
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"Failing a student or giving the student a zero for missing work only excuses the student from the work and the learning," school officials stated. Instead, "Completing an assignment that was not done or re-doing an assignment that did not meet the standard sends the message to the student that the assignment does matter as a learner in the class."
Previously, there were recommendations to have a separate grade for the quality and punctuality of assignments as reported by Wavy News. The punctuality has an equivalent test score of 100.
There was also another recommendation to revamp the current grading system. Currently, the passing score is 64 percent, which is equivalent to a D. They pointed out that on a scale of 100, it will be considered a failure if the student learns over half of the material.
Under the new recommendations, students will be able to retake the exam, getting the higher score without any penalty. Lastly, there was a recommendation to create a standing committee that will monitor and review the grading system.
However, parents have expressed their concerns over the new recommendation. Although the intention is good - make sure students will develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills aside from being academically proficient - they believe that students also need to feel they can still fail. Failure is still deemed as an important tool for learning.
Virginia Beach City Public School has been one of the top schools in the country. Will the new grading system improve their students' performance? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below.
