Parent Input Sought on High School Grading

The district has an on-line survey about high school grading policies put forth by the Sterring Committee for High School Reform. (I'm with Charlie; who is on these communities?) All parent, student, community and staff opinions are being sought. The questions revolve around these issues:
  • Change from a 5-point to an 11-point grading system (add + and - to a grade)
  • Eliminate the 2.0 GPA graduation requirement
  • Have athletic eligibility requirements and graduation requirements be consistent:
If the District continues to require a 2.0 GPA for graduation, then athletic eligibility will continue to require a 2.0 GPA.
If the District eliminates the 2.0 GPA for graduation, then the District will eliminate the 2.0 GPA for athletic eligibility.
  • Allow high school credit for approved 8th-grade work.
  • Implement a weighted grading system for Honors, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses:
Honors courses will carry an additional .5 quality point in determining GPA
AP and IB courses will carry an additional 1.0 quality point in determining GPA

The survey does explain each item, give background and then asks your opinion. It takes about 5-10 minutes to take.

Comments

Charlie Mas said…
When you complete the survey, don't forget to question the bizarre requirement that students request their high school credit for middle school courses during the first five weeks of their freshman year.

Students should get credit for the work they have done whenever they ask for that credit. What's so magical about five weeks?
12/13/08, 7:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Who Is A. J. Crabill (and why should you care)?

Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
Read more

Why the Majority of the Board Needs to be Filled with New Faces

This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong.  It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Read more