RVC to return to traditional grading for fourth quarter

Administrators in the Rockville Centre School District have decided to return to a traditional grading policy for the work done by students at South Side High School and Middle School during the fourth quarter. The decision to grade more stringently after moving to a pass/fail model for the third quarter was discussed at the April 15 virtual board of education meeting.

“We have evolved the online learning,” South Side High School Principal John Murphy said. “In collaboration with the middle school, starting with the fourth quarter, we will return to a traditional grading policy where assignments will be graded and students will receive numerical grades.”

He said that all students will receive a yearly course grade, on a scale of 1 to 100, which will be weighted appropriately. Addressing concerns that have been raised by parents over the past month, he said it had been a necessity for students to receive either a pass or fail due to all of the variables during the adjustment period while moving lessons online.

When schools closed so suddenly, Murphy said, “it was a shock to the system” and there was a learning curve for both students and teachers and a lack of objective measures, making it difficult to grade properly.

“That informed the decision for the third quarter and created the Do No Harm policy that we’ve adopted,” Murphy said. “That has evolved over time to now incentivize student performance, and they need the reward system to continue participation, to differentiate excellent to mediocre to poor work, to develop a stratified system where students are rewarded and incentivized to participate.”

However, Murphy said, any high grades earned by students during the third quarter prior to school closure will be used toward the student’s course total if it “helps the student’s average.”

Superintendent Dr. William Johnson clarified that grades earned during the first six weeks of the third marking period will “help, rather than hurt, students’ grades.”

Murphy likened a pass or fall designation to a “placeholder.” “A pass does not affect a student’s grade point average,” he said. “The hard work will be rewarded.”

Trustee Liz Dion asked about the college application process for current juniors. Murphy said the district has been in contact with admissions offices at multiple schools, and the colleges are aware that students’ transcripts may not have extracurricular activities listed during this period and may have grading systems such as pass/fail and are “developing a system where students are not harmed by it.”

He added that The National Center for Fair and Open Testing is creating a list of colleges and universities that have created “test optional” policies for admission in the fall of 2021.

“There are a variety of factors that informed our decision and we are in constant contact and reaching out to universities to make sure our students are being advocated for,” Murphy said, “and that they know what they’re looking for moving forward in the application process.”

The board will hold another livestreamed meeting on Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. It can be viewed on Optimum channel 19, Fios channel 36, or through the district’s YouTube site. The board is expected to finalize its review of the 2020-21 proposed budget and will further discuss the next phase of remote learning. Questions can be emailed to boe@rvcschools.org prior to the meeting, which will be answered during the “opportunities for public comment” portion of the meeting.