|
 In
the August 18 edition of the Texas AFT
Legislative Hotline, we reported that a significant
number of school districts are trying to evade the impact of a
new state law intended to uphold teachers' grading authority.
The intent of Senate Bill 2033 prohibits school districts from
requiring teachers to give students a minimum grade that does
not reflect students' actual mastery of their assignments. (The
law still allows policies permitting students to do make-up work
or retake exams to attain a passing grade.) But some districts
are saying that the law only speaks to grades on "assignments,"
not grades for whole grading periods, so they claim they are
still free to dictate students' minimum cumulative
grades.
On October 16, Commissioner of Education
Robert Scott issued a statement to school districts across the
state. The following was provided by the
Commissioner’s office:
"SB 2033, passed by the 81st Texas Legislature, requires each
school district to adopt a grading policy, including provisions
for the assignment of grades on class assignments and
examinations, before each school year. A district grading
policy:
- must require a classroom teacher to assign a grade that
reflects the student's relative mastery of an assignment;
- may not require a classroom teacher to assign a minimum
grade for an assignment without regard to the student’s
quality of work; and
- may allow a student a reasonable opportunity to make up or
redo a class assignment or examination for which the student
received a failing grade.
"TEA understands this legislation to also require honest
grades for each grading period including six weeks, nine weeks,
or semester grades for two reasons. First, if actual grades on
assignments are not used in determining a six weeks grade, the
purpose of the legislation has been defeated. Second, since
1995, Texas Education Code, §28.021, has required decisions
on promotion or course credit to be based on 'academic
achievement or demonstrated proficiency.' If the six weeks
grades do not reflect the actual assignment grades, they would
not reflect academic achievement or demonstrated
proficiency.
"This legislation permits a district, through local policy,
to allow a student a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a
class assignment or examination for which the student received a
failing grade. By allowing students to make up work, a district
would ensure six weeks grades reflect relative mastery of
assignments, even if making up a prior deficit, rather than
awarding an automatic grade to a student who has received a
failing grade."
Texas AFT is monitoring the implementation of SB 2033 across
the state. For example, members of the El Paso Federation of Teachers and Support
Personnel are challenging the El Paso ISD superintendent's
decision to maintain the rule of students receiving a grade no
lower than 50.
Here's how the El Paso Times recently described the issue in
an editorial comment:
"School district administrators should not rank putting on a
happy face above quality education of its students. The El Paso
Independent School District administration says students are to
receive a grade no lower than 50 for the initial grading period
of each semester. That way they have a better chance to pass the
course.
"Now the El Paso Federation of Teachers
and Support Personnel has filed a grievance saying the district
is in violation of a new state law to ban that practice.
Teachers want to award grades on merit, and they're right. The
grievance has been suspended temporarily pending talks with the
district."
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