Commerce School leaders weighed in at length at Monday night’s school board meeting about a new report card system that scraps the traditional A-F grading scale and evaluates student achievement according to Georgia’s Performance Standards Curriculum.
“The new Georgia curriculum has kind of pushed people in this direction,” Commerce Schools Superintendent James “Mac” McCoy said.
Commerce Primary School has implemented the new report cards for all grades this year, and Commerce Elementary will go to standards-based report cards next year in third and fourth grades.
The timetable for grade 5-8 implementation is being determined.
The new-look report card provides more evaluation than a traditional progress report, school leaders say, and students’ grades are relative to their mastery of the Georgia standards.
Students can either exceed standards (E), meet standards (M), are progressing toward standards (P) or lack progress toward standards (L).
The more detailed report card provides a prediction for a student’s achievement on the all-important CRCT. Areas flagged with a “P” or an “L” alert teachers, parents and students of potentially problematic areas on the standardized test.
While standardized report cards will eventually be implemented throughout grades K-8, the high school grading system will likely not change.
“As long as the Board of Regents says that we will have grades, and that that’s the determining factor to get into college, we will have grades for 9-12,” assistant superintendent Joy Tolbert said.
they were only meeting the standards instead of exceeding
standards... We have also gotten many grades sent home
that were 8/10 (an old "B"), but the letter grade she got
was a "P".. The last report card we received, our child
had more "P"s than "M"s on it in one section, but she has
not made any grade below an 8/10, 4/20 (an old "B").. The
report card states that if there is more "P"s than "M"s,
they can hold your child back.. So, we give up!!! Our
child gets good grades, but is still progressing towards
standards…..???? We think the new system is too vague..
At first, I thought maybe it was a communication problem
with her teacher and us, but after so many teacher conferences,
I felt as though we were going in circles.. We are keeping
Copies of all of her test and grades, and if she fails with making
B's and higher, we will fight it. We are just really concerned
about as she progresses into higher grades with this new system... My husband and I think that Commerce is a GREAT school, and
there is no doubt that our child is getting a great
education; however, I am more of a black and white person,
I like a grade that tells me down to the exact point of what
our child has made...