Editor’s note: This article was updated to include information about passing grades. Lea este articulo en español aquí.
The San Benito High School District Board of Trustees on May 28 unanimously approved a proposal to revise the district’s grading rubric for the 2024-25 academic year. The approval needs a second hearing before it is adopted.
The rubric is a scoring tool that defines performance expectations used to assess students’ knowledge of a subject. The change raises the point ranges needed to earn a specific letter grade.
San Benito High School District Assistant Superintendent Elaine Klauer told the board that the grading committee analyzed data and determined that the cut points for letter grades, which had been changed prior to this academic year, should be restored to their prior values.
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Changes of the grade ranges over the years. Image from the May 28 agenda packet. “For almost six years we had the same cutpoints,” Klauer said. “When we went full implementation this year, the cut points changed in the D and F rate and after looking at data we would like to go back.”
She said the changes have been agreed to by the San Benito High School Teachers Association and the district administration.
Klauer said the change was requested by teachers based on what they were seeing in their classrooms.
“We need to change cut points in order to make the grade really determine what a C means,” Klauer said.
Klauer told BenitoLink a student must pass the class with a D or better to receive credit toward graduation and earn a diploma. For a student to be a-g compliant and apply to a CSU or UC, the student must have a C or better in all a-g coursework.
Klauer said in her presentation that refining the grading policy is necessary because in some instances a student may submit an assignment on time, and would automatically score grade points despite not demonstrating evidence of learning. Now, students can receive a 0 regardless of when the assignment is submitted.
“There needs to be some calibration on how to determine a 0 and a 1 in each department,” Klauer said.
” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?fit=300%2C171&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?fit=780%2C444&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=780%2C444&ssl=1″ alt=”Description of each grading range. Image from the board policy. ” class=”wp-image-102509″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=1024%2C583&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=300%2C171&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=768%2C437&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=1536%2C874&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=1200%2C683&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=1568%2C893&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=400%2C228&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=706%2C402&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM.png?w=1574&ssl=1 1574w, https://i0.wp.com/benitolink.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-29-at-2.14.58%E2%80%AFPM-1024×583.png?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px”>
The cut point change for the 2023-24 academic year lowered the criteria for letter grades C and D.
San Benito High School District Superintendent Shawn Tennenbaum said he anticipates the cutpoints to continue to change as administrators and teachers work to refine it.
“I applaud that,” Tennenbaum said. “I think that’s the route to perfection because we have 174 [or] 172 teachers and 11 departments on campus that are all grading.”
Trustee Juan Robledo questioned the board policy’s section on late work. He said it appears to be contradictory because students cannot be penalized for late work but are still given deadlines.
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Assistant Superintendent Elaine Klauer presenting the grade changes for the 2024-25 academic school year. Photo by Noe Magaña.Klauer clarified that students are graded on two separate factors—academics and habits of learning. While the academic grade reflects the understanding of the material, the habits of learning metric reflects turning assignments on time, attendance, following school-wide rules and participating in class.
Klauer said the district is focused on four ideas. According to a 2018 news release from the district, the ideas are:
- Students will be provided feedback regarding progress and learning.
- Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning.
- Academic and citizenship/work habits grades will be given separately.
- Students will receive an academic grade on a scale of 0-4 (the higher the number the greater the subject knowledge demonstrated by the student), and a Citizenship/Work Habit grade of outstanding, satisfactory or needs improvement.
“We have done a bit of a slow rollout after our school closure [because of COVID-19],” Klauer said. “We decided to take a few of these big ideas at a time and implement them as a full staff.”
According to the board’s policy, the district distributes report cards to parents or guardians at the end of each grading period. Teachers may also send a written report to parents or guardians when a student is in danger of failing a course.
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