Worcester committee approves high-school mastery-grading guidelines and recommends keeping 65 passing grade

The Committee on Teaching, Learning and Student Success on Oct. 16 approved guidelines for a new high-school mastery-based grading framework negotiated between Worcester Public Schools and the EAW, and recommended to the Finance, Operations and Governance subcommittee that the district retain a 65 passing grade rather than lower it to 60.

The guidelines — described by Deputy Superintendent Marie Morris as the product of "many productive conversations with the EAW" — establish a 60/30/10 weighting structure for high-school grades, a lowered expectation of four major assignments per 10-week term (down from five), and a 10% category for practice or engagement. Morris said the district and union also agreed to provide professional development and teacher supports but that the specific PD schedule and detail remain under negotiation and will be reported back to the committee.

"We are very pleased to say we've had many productive conversations with the EAW regarding the mastery based grading practices," Morris said during the meeting. She told the committee the district agreed to the 60/30/10 weights and "conceded to change from 5 to 4 at the EAW's request."

Nadalina Ganes, introduced by Morris as the director of compliance and school improvement, described operational details for teachers: the district will show a "running in progress" grade that students can track during the quarter, and will adopt a 40-point minimum end-of-quarter floor for students "actively in class and working but not meeting the standard." Ganes also said Google Classroom will sync with the district grading platform (referred to in the record as WUEdu) and that the Office of Innovation will offer drop-in troubleshooting and one-on-one support for teachers.

"The running in progress grade is the grade that the students have over the course of the quarter," Ganes said, describing how live-grade visibility will work.

Committee members questioned scope and timing. Several members asked whether the framework applies only to high schools; administrators said the immediate rollout is for high schools, with middle schools to follow and elementary report-card review to be aligned later. Morris said a district grading policy is needed in part because the state’s competency-determination process — after changes to MCAS-based diploma rules — requires consistent local grading practices to certify student competency.

Member Maureen Benenda argued for multiple measures of student achievement and urged caution about relying on a single test. "So that's why it's important for the competency determination…we need to have guide rails around grading," she said, supporting the idea that several assignments provide fairer evidence of mastery.

On two motions, the committee acted as follows. First, it voted to recommend to the Finance, Operations and Governance subcommittee that 65 remain the district’s passing grade rather than lowering it to 60; the clerk’s roll call in the transcript records Member Benenda (Yes), Member Mailman (No) and Chair Alex Guardiola (Yes), with the vice chair recorded as voting Yes in the roll-call sequence. Second, the committee voted unanimously to approve the guidelines agreed to by WPS and the EAW to date and to hold detailed professional development plans pending further work with the union.

Chair Alex Guardiola framed the votes as approval of guidelines (not final policy), saying the PD details will be reported back to the committee. The clerk clarified that formal policy approval rests with the Finance, Operations and Governance committee and that TLSS reviews and recommends guidelines and practices.

Next steps: district staff will finalize PD plans and provide a follow-up report to the committee; the guidance for high schools will be forwarded as agreed and the recommended passing-grade position will be sent to FOG for policy consideration. The committee adjourned after the votes.