{"id":1483895,"date":"2024-08-15T18:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1483895"},"modified":"2024-08-15T18:05:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T22:05:00","slug":"new-grading-for-equity-system-in-some-california-schools-gets-mixed-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/new-grading-for-equity-system-in-some-california-schools-gets-mixed-reviews\/1483895\/","title":{"rendered":"New ‘Grading For Equity’ System In Some California Schools Gets Mixed Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

New ‘Grading For Equity’ System In Some California Schools Gets Mixed Reviews<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Sophie Li via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

As California students return to school, the debate over a new grading system aimed at eliminating biases in traditional grading continues across the state.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The new system, \u201cGrading for Equity,\u201d seeks to remove non-academic factors such as attendance, participation, and timely submission of assignments from students\u2019 grades, focusing solely on mastery of content.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really trying to make the grade only represent what a student has learned about the course,\u201d Joe Feldman, an author and former teacher who popularized the grading system, said in an episode<\/a> of EpochTV\u2019s \u201cCalifornia Insider\u201d show.<\/em><\/p>\n

According to Feldman\u2014who wrote \u201cGrading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms\u201d\u2014traditional grading systems contain biases that do not accurately reflect a student\u2019s mastery of the material, which equitable grading can address. For example, a student with a lower exam score might end up with the same final grade as a student with a higher exam score by earning higher grades in daily assignments or completing extra credit work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile [the non-academic factors] are important for students to learn how to do, we don\u2019t want to include them in the grade, because it starts to warp the accuracy of the grade,\u201d he said. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents could have identical performance but get a different grade depending on which teacher they have.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By excluding non-academic factors, Feldman said the system can better motivate students to engage with assignments meaningfully, rather than simply completing them mechanically.<\/p>\n

However, Dublin Teachers Association Co-President Laurie Sargent argued that the equity grading system might not work as intended. She said that if assignments become optional or do not count toward the final grade, students are more likely to skip them altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Feldman\u2019s concept is [that the students] can still do it and you can provide the feedback, but there\u2019s just no grade attached to it,\u201d Sargent, who\u2019s also an eighth-grade English teacher at Dublin Unified School District in Alameda County, said in the episode.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAs wonderful as that sounds, I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re there yet, because there\u2019s grades attached to it now, and they [still] don\u2019t do their homework or read the feedback. They\u2019re teenagers.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The school district experimented with equity grading on a small scale during the 2021\u201322 and 2022\u201323 school years in grades 7\u201312 but has paused its initial plan to roll out a districtwide transition within two years, partly due to opposition from parents.<\/p>\n

Feldman defends the equity system, saying assignments can sometimes obscure a student\u2019s true level of knowledge, leaving issues unresolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was happening is that students were hiding that they didn\u2019t know information, [and] they were concealing that by handing in homework because they got help [from parents or tutors] and doing extra credit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Dublin Unified Superintendent Chris Funk, who supports the equity system, said students\u2019 grades are sometimes affected by factors unrelated to learning, such as forgetting to write their names on their papers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re giving the zero because they don\u2019t have their first name, last name, the period and the date on it,\u201d he said in the episode. \u201cHow does that reflect whether they did the work correctly?\u201d<\/p>\n

50 Percent Floor<\/h2>\n

Funk said the equity grading policy was not significantly different from the traditional one, focusing only on removing the zero score and implementing a 50 percent base score.<\/p>\n

He added that while some teachers in the district were already practicing some of the changes, the new policy simply makes these practices more uniform and standardized.<\/p>\n

Sangeetha Shanbhogue, a parent at Dublin High School, told \u201cCalifornia Insider\u201d that her children received a 50 percent base score on every test last year and were permitted to retake exams if their grades were below a C. Additionally, her children did not have homework.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince [her son] did not have practice, he didn\u2019t learn because he didn\u2019t know what he was doing wrong,\u201d Shanbhogue said. \u201cEspecially for science subjects, where you have to spend some time outside of class trying to learn or practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that not requiring homework could severely hinder students\u2019 learning quality because they would miss out on practicing what they\u2019ve learned, especially for students in higher grade levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you started at once at high school, when the stakes are high [as] they\u2019re applying for college, it will have a big impact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Besides introducing the base grade, the equity grading system also allows students who didn\u2019t get a C to retake exams multiple times, which some argue could diminish their motivation to study.<\/p>\n

In some instances, Sargent said, students might use their first attempt at a test to discover its content, as teachers often use the same exam for all retakes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2018ll go in, I\u2019ll see what the test is, and then I’ll go back and study and do the retake,\u201d she said. \u201cSo now we\u2019ve just taught them to game the system.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She added that while retaking exams allows students to revisit and correct their mistakes, it is also crucial to teach them to take responsibility for their work before they enter society.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we do that with freshmen and sophomores or in the middle school levels, where the kids are still emerging, but by the time you\u2019re a junior and a senior and in our AP classes, it doesn\u2019t teach them accountability.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Shanbhogue echoed this concern, saying that such practices have harmed her children\u2019s motivation to study hard for exams.<\/p>\n

Graduation Rate<\/h2>\n

On a larger scale, Sargent said the equity system will boost graduation rates, but at a cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to elevate our graduation rates so that students that would normally fail classes will now pass, but they won\u2019t have the skills … that they need to back them up in the real world,\u201d she said.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Moreover, higher graduation rates don\u2019t necessarily translate to higher college admission rates, Shanbhogue said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of kids getting into UCs and CSUs has decreased, while the number of kids that are going to community colleges has increased. AP scores have also decreased over the last three years,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> she said, referring to data from the school district.<\/p>\n

According to the school\u2019s profile, the four-year college placement rate decreased from 73.4 percent to 64.8 percent from the 2022\u201323 school year to 2023\u201324. In contrast, the two-year college placement rate increased from 21.5 percent to 24.2 percent, while placements to military and other schools rose from nearly 5 percent to 11 percent.<\/p>\n

School data also show that in the 2022\u201323 school year, 184 students were accepted into the University of California, and 115 students were accepted into the California State University system. In the 2023\u201324 school year, 137 students were accepted into UC schools, and 106 were accepted into CSU.<\/p>\n

Challenges<\/h2>\n

The Dublin Unified Board of Trustees voted to discontinue the equity grading program in July 2023.<\/p>\n

During the board meeting, Funk also announced that the district is ending its relationship with Crescendo Group, the consultant firm led by Feldman. The firm had been assisting the district in developing the grading system.<\/p>\n

According to the superintendent, 26 teachers participated in the pilot program, and 80 more were planning to join before the board paused it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, Funk said that more practice and research are needed because pilot program data were insufficient to determine whether the new system is effective, and he was disappointed that the board did not give it more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge that I have with some parents is when they come to a board meeting and they give one example, or they [talk] in broad stroke, saying the community is upset,\u201d he said. \u201cIt got to a point where the board said, you know what, there\u2019s enough pressure, we\u2019re going to stop it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe board listened to the parents, but 30 parents don\u2019t constitute 5,000 parents,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>he added.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s director of communication, Chip Dehnert, told The Epoch Times in an email that while the district-backed effort was discontinued, teachers are still free to implement equity grading at their discretion. The board\u2019s decision does not ban it.<\/p>\n

Some other school districts that have implemented similar grading practices include Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, Sacramento City Unified, Santa Ana Unified, and San Diego Unified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 08\/15\/2024 – 14:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/new-grading-equity-system-some-california-schools-gets-mixed-reviews<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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