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Report‑card redesign aims to separate achievement from behavior; board asks for clearer parent guidance
Summary
District staff and the report‑card committee presented a redesign that separates academic achievement from associated skills and provides per‑class attendance reporting; the board urged clearer rubrics, translated access, and a plan to ensure parents can see the assignment‑level evidence behind letter grades.
Schenectady City School District staff and committee members presented a progress update on a redesigned secondary report card that separates academic achievement from associated skills and adds per‑class attendance tracking, and the board discussed how to make the change understandable for families and teachers.
The committee said its work aligns with the district's grading for equity policy and aims to make quarterly report cards clearer by reporting a student's subject achievement separately from three associated skills: keeping agreements (student behavior), classroom engagement (participation), and punctuality in assignments. Committee presenters said each associated skill will be rated on a 1–4 scale and that attendance will be reported by class period rather than as a single daily total. The presentation also proposed printing numeric scores for Regents exam performance while quarterly and final course marks would appear as letter grades.
Why it matters: presenters and board members framed the redesign as an equity and clarity measure intended to help families and students understand what supports are needed without conflating behavior or late work with assessment of standards. The board pressed for implementation details that make the new format accessible and actionable for families, including rubrics, translated copies, digital access and a plan for distributing class‑level syllabi that show the cut scores behind letter grades.
Board members repeatedly asked how parents will interpret letter grades under the new system and how the district will ensure families can see the underlying evidence. In response, presenters described three complements: (1) a class syllabus or course‑level rubric that lays out what constitutes A/B/C work against standards, (2) continuing use of Infinite Campus as an always‑open grade book showing assignment‑level entries, and (3) comment codes on the report card that link to a bank of standard comments. Michael (district staff) and Pamela (report‑card committee) said teachers will limit printed comments each quarter and that the report‑card codes will direct parents to plain‑language explanations.
Board members asked whether report cards will be available in languages other than English; staff said Infinite Campus can translate report cards for families identified with a home language in the system, and families can opt into a printed translated report card if needed. The committee also said the team is discussing ways to hyperlink comment codes or make them clickable in Infinite Campus to let families view full comment text digitally.
Several board members sought clarity on how cut scores will be set: presenters said that cut scores are being developed in department‑level and grade‑level teams (horizontal and vertical teaming) so that, for example, all teachers of a given course agree on what A/B/C performance looks like. Presenters acknowledged this is a substantial professional‑development lift and said the district will continue staff training and return to the board with additional data in the spring.
Ending: The board did not take formal action on the report‑card redesign at the meeting; presenters said the committee will continue work on elementary report cards, finalize comment banks and rubrics, and return with updates and data on policy implementation in a future meeting.
