Report Cards and Grades Part 1

The Susquehanna Community School District is investigating the move to standards-based reports cards at the elementary school and implementing a four-point grading scale at all grade levels. The move to a standards-based report card at the elementary level will allow teachers to better communicate how students are attaining the Pennsylvania Academic Standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening and Mathematics. Standards-based report cards will not look very different from the current report cards in grades K-3, but they will be noticeably different from the current report cards in grades 4-6. The use of letters and percentages as grades will change to a four-point grading scale with the implementation of standards-based report cards. In this type of grading scale the numbers correspond to the PSSA performance levels, where a “4” equals “advanced” work down to a “1” that identifies “below basic” performance. At the high school level, the change will be completely associated with course numerical grades. The four-point scale, which is utilized by many high schools and the entire college/university system, would replace the current percentage-based grading scale at the high school. The four-point scale is more equitable than the current percentage-based grading scale. In the current system, a failing grade could be anywhere between a zero (0) and a 69. However, in the four-point scale, all failing grades receive a “0,” while D’s receive a “1,” C’s equate to a “2,” B’s correspond to a “3,” and A’s are denoted by a “4.” The four-point scale has exactly the same amount between each grading scale, while the current percentage based system has only 31 of 100 points in the passing range.

Report Cards and Grades Part 2

The movement to a standards-based report card for the elementary school will not be easy. Identifying which academic standards to report will take much consideration on the part of teachers and administrators. A grade-reporting template will also have to be developed to accommodate the use of performance standard descriptors. As for the four-point scale replacing the percentage-based system at the high school, this will also be a “work in progress.” The new system, if adopted, may have to be “phased in” in grades 9-12 due to the fact that GPAs for students in those grades are already being calculated with the percentage-based system. Both of these potential changes are intended to help the district communicate student performance in a more efficient and effective manner.

Governor Rendell has recently proposed a plan to resolve the pending PSERS crisis. His proposal has two distinct elements. First, the fiscal liabilities faced by PSERS would be re- amortized over 30 years. Second, instead of the massive increases in state and school district contributions over the next three years that are currently projected, the state would require a more gradual increase in contributions. With Rendell's proposal, the state and school districts would face an increase of only 1% of payroll (equal to a 21% increase in the PSERS contribution rate) for the 2010-2011 fiscal year compared to the 3.44% payroll increase (equal to a 72% increase in the PSERS contribution rate) that was already set by PSERS for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. After 2010-2011, school districts and the state would face an annual increase in contributions of no more than 3% under Rendell's pl
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