The Denton Independent School District School Board voted this week to make some changes to the new, controversial grading policies it began this year at its high schools and middle schools.
District communications director Mario Zavala said the new policies will start in January and were created after feedback this semester by the community.
Tests will account for between 60-70 percent of students’ grades with an increased time line of 10 days to relearn and retake a test, Zavala said.
Students will also begin receiving at least one grade per week through at least three summative assessments, and parents will be better informed of student progress and test dates.
When middle and high school students came back to class this fall they sat down in a new policy which shifted the emphasis from homework to assessments. Major work such as tests and presentations now account for between 70-80 percent of their final grade with the rest coming from work like quizzes and projects and virtually no weight at all going to homework or daily work.
Students are also now allowed to retake tests for a better grade.
This policy was met with concern by some parents and students in the district who began voicing their disagreement to the school board.
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"It's a lot harder definitely,” said Guyer High School student Alexis Hughes.
"Yeah, I don't like how you have to rely on a test to make up your grade,” added fellow high school student Cherise Barker.
Others spoke out against the test re-taking policy, saying that it didn’t prepare students for the real world where they would have to produce results on a deadline.
However, district leaders said the policy uses proven methods for making students more accountable for their own learning.
Middle school teacher Dayna Van Aken said the district based the policy off the state’s requirement that students be graded on their mastering of topics of study.
"If it takes some students a little longer, then we keep working with those students," said Van Aken. "The practice they do along the way, if we treat that as just part of the learning process, then that helps build the students' confidence."
Van Aken’s daughter was a part of the district’s pilot program for the grading style last year and said she saw a positive result in her daughter by the end of the school year.
"At first I was shocked when I looked at the grade report, and I saw she had no homework grades,” said Van Aken. "When she didn't do as well on the tests as she hoped, she realized she really did have to do her homework."
The district said it will continue to take feedback from the community and make adjustments as needed, but for now school leaders are confident in the policy and plan to stick with it.
