Middle School to Switch Back to Traditional Grading

North Andover Middle School will not use standards-based grading, at least for the time being.

Superintendent Kevin Hutchinson sent a letter to parents Wednesday informing them of his decision School Committee's decision to revert the middle school back to traditional grading. Education will still be standards-based, but reporting will be traditional.

"This means that all assessments and work that are used to report student progress will be scored on a 100 percent scale," the letter reads.

With a instead of the traditional A-F grading system, teachers report progress in detailed analysis of what a child has learned relating to state standards. Education is tailored to hit targets based on that, and teacher reports also discuss the child's social learning.

The standards-based system was launched partially in the middle school in September and was expected to be fully implemented for the 2013-2014 school year. But many parents expressed concern over what the system does, what the reports mean and how they will be understood by private high schools and colleges.

Hutchinson addressed these concerns in a Live Chat on Patch in August. But last week, parents reportedly addressed the School Committee with more concerns and frustration, over both the new system and the way it was being implemented.

"Middle School administration will work with teachers to convert grades already received this trimester so that they can be seamlessly blended with grades moving forward," the letter reads. "Details of this will be communicated to you within the next few weeks as well as how the report card will be interpreted at the end of the year."

A PDF of the complete letter is attached to this post. Check back with Patch for further updates.