School Board to consider returning to more rigorous grading standards

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, April 26, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

The Clark County School District is turning back the clock on grades, trying to raise both academic standards and accountability by returning to a strict numerical scale for weighing student achievement.

An "A" grade will require a score of 90-100 on class assignments starting in the 2006-2007 academic year. A score of 80-89 will earn a "B."

Strict numerical scales were prevalent in schools a half century ago, but over the decades, many school districts adopted less precise - some would say less rigorous - standards.

Under the district's current regulations, an "A" represents "excellent achievement," not a numerical score. "B" is for "above-average achievement." If approved as expected by the School Board on Thursday, the revised regulation will have letter grades that correspond with the numerical scores.

The change in the regulation grew out of a desire to ease concerns over suspected grade inflation, asking teachers "to take a more quantitative approach, rather than qualitative," Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said during a recent interview with the Las Vegas Sun editorial board.

Lauren Kohut-Rost, acting chief academic officer for the district, said the regulation change was part of a larger effort to ensure "what is an 'A' in one classroom is also an 'A' in another classroom in the same course, whether it's in that school or another school."

Gary Waters, member of the state Board of Education, said the district's revisions are a direct result of demands for increased accountability.

"If your interest is in being more responsive to the public and more specific about what you mean, this is a step in the right direction," Waters said. "That being said, it's going to be harder for an English teacher to decide which essay gets an 88 and which gets a 90 than it's going to be to grade a math test. That's when subjectivity creeps into the curriculum."

Many teachers were already using a numerical scale with the letter grades they handed out but there was fluctuation, said Jane Kadoich, director of guidance and counseling for the School District.

"The goal is consistency," Kadoich said.

Complaints of teachers grading too easily - or too harshly - are likely to persist, Kadoich said.

"That human aspect is going to happen regardless of the grading scale," Kadoich said.

The regulation changes also call for a revised appeals process for parents to dispute their child's grade, including requiring administrators to review the matter within 10 days. A process is also set in place for parents to appeal a school administrator's decision to the region superintendent.

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, said she supported the changes to the regulation with one exception - the decision to hand out letter grades beginning in kindergarten, rather than first grade.

"That's just sad," Holloway said. "They're just beginning to learn how to handle school and you're going to give them a letter grade? Imagine telling a parent, 'Your kindergartner is a C student.' "