Controversial item indeed! How is your District responding?

• Educational Equity, Politics & Policy in Texas: Some Texas districts yet to change grading policies
  • Some Texas districts yet to change grading policies
  • A new state law aims to stop school district policies that bar teachers from giving students grades lower than a 50, a 60 or even a 70.

    But with less than a week before fall classes begin, some districts aren’t ready to change their policies.

  • But Texas Education Agency officials say the law, which states that districts “may not require a classroom teacher to assign a minimum grade for an assignment,” clearly applies to all types of grades.
  • “Districts need to give accurate grades to students, and that includes report card grades,” said TEA spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe. “It’s pretty simple, give the grade students earned and stick with that.”
  • Fort Worth school officials aren’t yet changing their policy that sets 50 as the lowest six-week grade. But they say they will convene teachers’ committees to re-examine their current grading policies.
  • Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, a former teacher, sponsored the legislation this year after teachers complained to her that schools would not allow them to give students less than 50. She said she did intend for it to apply to six-week grade reports as well.
  • “I was shocked,” Nelson said. “It was causing so many problems. On the one hand, we expect students to pass certain standards, and on the other hand, teachers were forced to give children a grade whether they deserved it or not.”
  • Nelson’s legislation requires districts to develop grading polices that set no floor or minimum on grades. Districts also must draft grading policies based on students’ mastery of the subject matter.
  • Large urban districts in particular fear that repealing such policies could remove “safety nets” for students and have raised concerns that the law supersedes local control.
  • Nelson said that she is not opposed to allowing students opportunities to make up work or retake failed tests, if teachers feel it’s appropriate.
  • “A good teacher will work with that child and give them some opportunity to do additional work,” she said.
  • he said he can see how a student earning lower than a 50 during the first weeks of class could have a tough ­ and in some cases impossible ­ time passing the semester, when a low grade is averaged in.
  • Senate Bill 2033 by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, aims to reform school district grading practices. Here’s a summary:

    •Requires school districts to adopt a grading policy before the start of each school year.

  • Requires a classroom teacher to assign a grade that reflects the students’ relative mastery of an assignment.
  • Districts may not require a classroom teacher to assign a minimum grade for an assignment without regard for the student’s quality of work.
  • Districts may allow a student a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.

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