Rhode Island Department of Education Proposing Pass/Fail Grades for Students This Spring
Monday, April 20, 2020
A report last revised on Friday by the Rhode Island Department of Education - intended to provide guidance to administrators across the state - shows that administrators are considering pass-fail grades for the spring 2020 semester in light of the coronavirus crisis. The report also gives direction for attendance and graduation.
The report is titled "Rhode Island Department of Education Distance Learning 2020" and is drafted under the name Rhode Island Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green.
“Grading, Assessment, and Feedback: Each district will continue to implement grading policies through decisions that are in the best interest of their schools and communities and in accord with best practices. With that in mind, RIDE recommends that LEAs adopt a holistic “credit/no credit” model, based largely on performance assessments and/or open-resource summative assessments, which incorporate teacher feedback and student self-reflection, numerous content standards, cross-curricular skills, and higher-order thinking,” states the report.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIt is unknown how the “credit” grading system will impact the college admission process for high school seniors and juniors.
Further, the College Board and ACT organizations decided to postpone or cancel this spring's SAT and ACT testing dates.
“We know students and educators are worried about how the coronavirus may disrupt the college admissions process, and we want to do all we can to help alleviate that anxiety during this very demanding time,” added the CEO of the College Board, David Coleman, in a statement last week.
“Student learning should still be recorded at the standard-level and reviewed frequently by teachers, students, and parents, in structured conversations,” states the report.
Key factors to consider when determining grading, assessment, and feedback practices:
Due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID19 crisis and the rapidity with which students, teachers, and the entire education system have had to evolve, the assignment of “credit/no credit,” accompanied by relevant and accurate qualitative information about student performance is most appropriate.
Teachers should focus most of their attention on summative assessments of student understanding and providing specific, actionable feedback to improve student learning.
Making student learning visible through visualizations of progress increases students understanding of expectations, efficacy, and decision-making.
Gamification (building in systems of points or other game-like incentives) into learning as a form of feedback that can produce motivation and engagement.
Assignments for grades should focus on performance assessments and/or be open notes/resources.
In the report, Infante-Green writes, "We owe it to all our students to make sure that we improve, even as we employ new teaching techniques. We need to make sure our multilingual learners, differently-abled students, and other students with high need are making progress. We need to formalize our approaches to grading, attendance, credit awards, and all the other issues that we track at the school and LEA level."
Standardize Attendance
The report, also outlines policies for consistent attendance across all districts.
Ensure All Parties Execute the Attendance Protocols Consistently:
1. Attendance protocols identified by each LEA with feedback by the team at RIDE should be followed with consistency and be easily accessible to teachers and school leaders, at a minimum.
2. Attendance protocols must include both asynchronous and synchronous methods. Doing so provides educators with more data on a student’s accessibility to virtual learning. For example, you may have students online and simultaneously take attendance or, for an asynchronous method, you may count assignment submission as attendance, depending on context.
3. Trends in attendance data should be used to identify the needs of students. For example, if you notice a student has called in every day but has not participated in synchronous learning or has not completed assignments, a possible root cause may be that the student does not have consistent access to the technology needed to participate.
Graduation
According to the report, "distance Learning should not impact a student’s ability to meet the requirements to graduate on time. All efforts should be made to allow students to continue their current coursework to earn credits required for graduation."
The report states:
The Secondary Design: Middle and High School Learning Environments and the Rhode Island Diploma System Regulations allow flexibility regarding content-area course completion requirements, including expanded learning opportunities, dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and on-line learning (Sec 2.3.1).
While the means of instruction will change using Distance Learning, the level of rigor and completion requirements remain unchanged. State-recognized performance-based diploma assessment options can be delivered remotely to allow students to demonstrate applied learning skills and proficiency in one or more content areas (Sec 2.3.2).
LEAs have the discretion to decide the best means of carrying out senior portfolios and projects using Distance Learning. Every effort should be made to maintain the same level of rigor based on Distance Learning expectations. All performance-based diploma assessments shall be evaluated utilizing a scoring criteria defined by the LEA and aligned with state-adopted content standards and applied learning standards, and/or other relevant nationally-recognized content standards
