The North Andover Schools superintendent discusses his decision to return the middle school to traditional grading.
The decision to back away from standards-based grading at North Andover Middle School had much to do with the confusion it caused, according to Superintendent Kevin Hutchinson. "We went back to the traditionally scaled system simply because it was evident that it was becoming obstacle in the way of our true purpose, providing rigorous currciulum to students and giving them detailed feedback," Hutchinson said. The School Committee recently held a meeting for public feedback, and the feedback from parents about thre standards-based grading system was that of frustration and chaos. "All of it was not making sense to everyone," Hutchinson said. "It was making sense to some and not all. That's something we need to work on, to have people better…
42.6933
-71.12055
North Andover Middle School
495 Main St, North Andover, MA
/articles/hutchinson-standards-based-grading-became-an-obstacle
778294
/locations/8571621
The switch comes after a firestorm from parents.
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 standards-based grading system, 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 …
42.6933
-71.12055
North Andover Middle School
495 Main St, North Andover, MA
/articles/breaking-middle-school-to-switch-back-to-traditional-grading
778294
/locations/8567784
Carl Reppucci
12:21 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
Bottom line, with either system the kids will adapt and people will pass any test, implementers of the system will say it worked. But if people are not interested in what they are learning - they won't use it. It is like making a kid study music, piano lessons every day, - you have heard the stories - adults that don't play nor do they enjoy or understand any thing of music. But someone with … more ›