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Teachers outline target-based grading; board told middle school will move to three-point proficiency reporting next year
Summary
High-school teachers demonstrated the district's target-based grading system and the board discussed a planned middle-school rollout next fall; administrators described JMC backend mapping to traditional percentages and said reassessment limits and Cardinal time will be used to support students.
Bangor School District teachers presented the district’s target-based grading approach on June 3 and told the board the middle school will begin using the three-point proficiency reporting next fall while high-school adoption will phase in over a longer period.
"We are reporting them with the actual target that we're looking at," said Britney Fry Miller, a high-school English teacher speaking for the presenting team, explaining the three-point scale (3 = proficient, 2 = approaching, 1 = developing) and the emphasis on communicating proficiency rather than task completion. Karly Barter, a social-studies teacher, described rubrics and examples teachers use to clarify success criteria for students.
Presenters and administrators described how the system will operate in practice: teachers will separate cognitive from noncognitive factors, allow multiple attempts to master targets with defined reassessment policies, and use Cardinal time for reteaching and small-group intervention. The administration said the district will keep the JMC transcript/reporting backend but translate three-point scores to the percentage-based system used for transcripts and college reporting.
Board members pressed for clarity on parental communication, how many reassessments would be allowed, and how valedictorian or class-rank ties will be handled. Teachers said they would implement reassessment limits and prerequisites (for example, required preparation work) to avoid endless retakes, and that rubrics and student examples would be shared with parents. Administrators said a mapping chart in the district guide translates the three-point scale into JMC percentages and that grade-point calculations are included in the target-based grading guide.
The board discussion included questions about instructional time and classroom dynamics, which presenters said would be managed through universal instruction goals, Cardinal time pullouts and peer mentoring. Several board members thanked the teachers for providing concrete examples and for preparing staff-development work this summer.
Administrators said the middle school will adopt the system districtwide next fall; high-school implementation will be phased and evaluated. The presentation was informational and no formal board policy change was recorded at the meeting; the board did not vote on a formal district-wide grading policy during this session.
