Are Ds OK?

April 9, 2006

JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - A proposal by the Mat-Su Borough School District to drop D letter grades from all local high schools and middle schools has drawn mixed reviews from school board members and educators.

On Wednesday, the district unveiled a proposal to the Mat-Su School Board, which would mandate that all high schools and middle schools adopt a grading scheme that replaces D letter grades (60-69 percent) with an incomplete. Students who receive Ds then could try to bring their grade up to a C or better within two weeks from when initial grades are sent home to parents.

Students who fail to attain at least 70 percent for a course would receive no credit for the class.

Wasilla Middle School Principal Amy Spargo said she doesn't necessarily oppose the change but doesn't appreciate that the new scheme was developed without input from local principals, teachers, parents and other stakeholders.

&#8220This administrative regulation impacts hundreds of teachers, thousands of students,” she told the school board Wednesday night. &#8220It impacts teachers that have been teaching for 20 years and this will be a large shift in their thinking.”

The district presented the plan to the school board as an administrative regulation, which means the board would not need to vote for it to take effect. However, Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle assured board members the district would not go forward with the plan without school board approval.

Doyle said the district developed the grading proposal partly in response to multiple phone calls from parents who read a report in the Frontiersman that nearly one of every four Valley high school students have grade point averages of 2.0 or below at five local schools.

&#8220People were calling in and saying, ‘What's going on in the school district?' in terms of how many Ds and how many Fs, and what is the standard of proficiency, and how are we ever going to make (Adequate Yearly Progress) under (No Child Left Behind),'” Doyle told the board.

In addition, Doyle explained the district didn't think it sent a very good message to students to give passing grades for classes where they demonstrated below-average proficiency.

Wasilla High School Principal Dwight Probasco said the idea is a great ideal, but questioned its practical affect in the classroom. On Wednesday, Probasco joined several other community members who objected that educators were not given a chance to weigh in on the grading plan.

&#8220I'm a public-school principal, so I'm for higher standards,” Probasco said in a phone interview Thursday. &#8220I want children to achieve their potential. However, the reality is that we have a lot of different students.”

Some students work long hours after school and struggle just to maintain a D average in some classes, Probasco said. In those cases, he said he's happy the students are attending school at all. On the other hand, he said he agrees with the ideals that students should be held to higher standards.

Ultimately, Probasco said changing the grading scheme doesn't really address what he sees as a larger cultural problem with many students that come through his school.

&#8220Grades do not all come down to the student and the teacher in the classroom,” he explained, adding that parental involvement is crucial for students to succeed. More and more, Probasco said he deals with students who don't have consistent, stable family units to support them in their education.

&#8220Our culture is changing and we are losing a lot of that,” he said.

Colony High School currently is the only high school in the state that does not issue D letter grades.

Colony Principal Cyd Duffin said the school has used its current grading format since the school opened in the early 1990's. While Colony's system allows kids to retake courses to attain better proficiency, she said the system also has its down sides.

Last semester, Colony scheduled a school-wide evaluation of its grading system to get a better idea of its impact and popularity. After surveying more than 200 parents and holding a school-wide vote, Duffin said the community was split right down the middle as to whether or not the school should hand out D letter grades.

One consequence of not giving a student credit toward graduation for D grades is the school must offer more &#8220redo” classes, Duffin said. Last semester, 700 Ds or lower were issued at Colony. Of those, 300 were Ds. If those D grades were considered passing, Colony could have freed up two additional teachers to teach elective or honors classes. As it is, Colony offers very few upper level courses, Duffin said.

Before taking action on the proposed grading change, the school board asked district administrators to seek input from parents, educators and others regarding the suitability of the new plan.

&#8220I am in agreement that we need to get more stakeholders involved,” said School Board Member Linda Menard. &#8220We still have adequate time, I believe, to do that.”

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266 or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.