Officials at Orland School District 135 are getting back to the ABCs of learning–or rather the ABCDs and Fs of learning.
In a vote Monday night, the school board decided to scrap its current “developmental checklist ” method of grading 3rd and 4th graders in exchange for the more traditional A through F system. The change comes only five years after the district implemented the current system.
Proponents of the change felt that parents do not accept the developmental checklist.
“Parents have been telling us that the current assessment does not communicate what they need to know,” said board member Paul Jacobowsky. “Our job is to communicate to the parents and students how well the students are doing.”
Board President James Gallagher added, “The most important element is the parents. and this just doesn’t tell them enough. Seventy-five to 80 percent of them feel left out because they don’t understand it.”
There was some debate over whether going back to letter grades in 3rd grade was developmentally appropriate, but the change passed for 3rd graders as well by a vote of 4-3.
“I get concerned that you might label a child in 3rd grade, and you might stifle his ability,” said board member Bonnie Holloway.
The school board’s decision runs counter to a trend in the Chicago area, where dozens of elementary school districts have jettisoned letter grades in favor of a more comprehensive means of student evaluation. In the last few years, school officials from Waukegan to Palatine to Crystal Lake have switched to the modern method.
Under the new systems, instead of using a single letter to evaluate a student’s performance, teachers offer a narrative explanation, using checklists to identify the child’s strengths and weaknesses. Oftentimes the evaluation includes a portfolio of the child’s work.
“Many systems in this area are struggling with going beyond the letter grades and looking for a more nuanced form of grading,” said Jo Anderson of the Illinois Education Association. “There is a trend to give much more in the way of feedback than a simple A or F. The letter grade doesn’t tell the parents much. An F or a D tells them something is wrong, but it doesn’t tell them what is wrong.”
Proponents say the new grading styles can be helpful in the primary grades because young children can face emotional scars from the negative stigma associated with a failing grade.
In District 135, the decision to return to letter grades came at the urging of parents and teachers, who leveled a barrage of criticism at the current method.
Currently, the school district uses a lengthy four-tiered checklist to assess students’ work. The student’s profile, as it is called, omits letter grades in favor of checkmarks that let parents know if a child is performing above, below or at expectations.
In 1992, school officials began implementing the new grading method in the lower grades, eventually expanding it to 4th grade.
But parents and teachers never took favorably to the change. A survey conducted in April showed that 73 percent of parents said they preferred letter grades, while 16 percent liked the developmental checklists. A resounding 97 percent of teachers favored the old system over the current one.
