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Parents and teachers tell Berkeley County board DFA grading is harming students; calls for policy change
Summary
Dozens of parents, teachers and union leaders told the Berkeley County Board of Education that district formative assessments (DFAs) are being used as graded benchmarks, damaging student confidence and teacher autonomy. Speakers urged the district to stop counting DFAs as grades, revise pacing guides and include teachers in decision-making.
Dozens of parents, teachers and union leaders used the board’s public-comment period to criticize the district’s new use of District Formative Assessments (DFAs), saying the tests are being treated as graded benchmarks and are harming students’ confidence and teachers’ professional judgment.
Speakers said the DFAs — described in district materials as assessments intended to inform instruction — are being counted in students’ grades in ways that punish children and undermine classroom practice. “He said before his last round of DFAs last week, ‘I’m stupid. I’m an idiot,’” said Adrienne Serpe, a parent and former public-school teacher, quoting her 11-year-old. “Our students and our teachers and our kids deserve better from you.”
Parents and teachers described similar effects across grade levels: anxiety and tears for children in early grades, teachers pressured to “teach to the test,” and what…
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