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Design team presents shift toward standards-based, three-level grading; district to pilot new report card in semester 2
Summary
District design-team members told the board on Oct. 9 they recommend moving from traditional letter grades to a three-level proficiency scale and separate work-habits reporting. The team plans a semester-2 pilot and a district-wide roll out for 2026'27 after teacher feedback and prototype refinements.
At the Oct. 9 board meeting the Wiseburn assessment, grading and reporting design team summarized work toward an equitable, standards-based reporting system and a plan to pilot new report cards.
Teacher representative Maria Rodriguez (a design-team member) described the move away from a traditional A'F letter-grade system toward a three-level proficiency scale (not yet/emerging; proficient/mastery; above grade-level performance to be captured via comments or separate indicators). Rodriguez said the design-team process included multiple sessions, external support from Learner-Centered Collaborative, staff presentations and "spirited conversations" about whether to adopt a three- or four-point scale; the recommendation was a three-point proficiency system.
Rodriguez described an implementation timeline in which the team will finish report-card definitions, build prototypes, and pilot the new report card for the second semester. Teachers will continue to use the current report card in parallel while the pilot proceeds so staff can compare outputs and provide feedback; the design team recommended a district rollout for 2026'27 after additional teacher and parent engagement.
The team proposals separate academic proficiency from work habits/citizenship so that effort and behavior do not directly reduce academic proficiency scores. Rodriguez said the team will develop clear rubrics and standards-aligned descriptors and will consult neighboring districts that have adopted similar models as prototypes.
Trustees and staff discussed how the system would interface with high-school GPA and college admissions processes, whether schools would retain recognition for high-achieving students (honor roll equivalents), and how elementary/middle-level teachers would report work habits. Team members said the district will develop rubrics, communication plans and parent outreach; they emphasized that eighth-grade or older students typically enter high school with a fresh GPA baseline, and the new system would provide standards-level information for receiving teachers.
Ending: The board encouraged continued stakeholder engagement and requested district staff return with prototypes, rubrics and parent-communication plans prior to districtwide adoption; no policy changes were approved at the Oct. 9 meeting.
