District Committee Proposes K–2 Standards-Based Progress Reports; Board Voices Questions on 2nd-Grade Grading
Summary
A district committee presented recommended K–2 standards-based grading practices to the Roanoke County School Board on June 5, proposing progress-report language, standardized assessments, and removal of averaged final grades for younger students.
Ben Williams, who oversees K–2 instruction, briefed the Roanoke County School Board on recommendations from a teacher-led committee piloting standards-based grading in kindergarten through second grade. The committee included kindergarten, first- and second-grade teachers, reading coaches and instruction staff who met to align assessments, grade-band indicators and reporting practices.
Committee recommendations included using a progress report in K–2 (proficient / approaching / not yet) tied to criterion-referenced indicators aligned to state standards; removing an averaged final grade so end-of-year status is the primary signal of student learning; using only summative assessments to determine proficiency (keeping practice and formative work visible but unweighted); and publishing common assessment banks and cut scores so teachers across schools use the same proficiency thresholds.
Williams said the committee produced a SharePoint repository of common K–2 assessments and guidance mapping diagnostic scores to the proficiency scale. "The goal was to identify appropriate assessments for tricky indicators and improve inter-rater reliability across schools," he said. The committee also recommended rounding only at the final course grade (for A–F reporting in older grades) to minimize cumulative rounding errors.
Board members commended the committee’s work and the added detail parents would receive from the proposed report card indicators. Several members, while supportive of the effort to create consistent, criterion-based reporting, expressed reservations about dropping letter grades at second grade. One member said they were comfortable with kindergarten and first grade as progress-only but did not want to surprise families when the third-grade transition brings traditional letter grades and state testing.
Williams and board members agreed to continue refining implementation details over the summer, expand teacher and parent communications, and return with finalized administrative regulations and sample report cards. No policy change or vote was taken; staff will bring proposed ARs and suggested parent materials back to the board.
