Grading Schools - An F or an A?

The state of Utah has recently released the new “grades” for all schools in the state. Some schools are very happy, some schools are very sad, and nothing has changed at all in education.

Someone, somewhere, for some reason, decided that Utah schools needed to be graded. I am very sure they thought they had a good reason. I am also very sure they had no idea what it would really mean.

What does a school grade really mean? Absolutely nothing.

Here’s why. West High received an F grade last year. So did a lot of other schools. The grades were based on students achieving a certain level of proficiency. If your school did not reach a certain percentage of students at proficiency, your school received an F.

Since that was too harsh, this year they changed the system to grade schools on a curve. West did not dramatically increase proficiency, but this year they are a C school because of the curve. Nothing else really changed.

Here is the important part. Did a student graduating from West not get accepted into college because they came from an F school? Did they not receive a scholarship? Did anything happen to any student because they came from an F school?

The answer is NO.

What about local resources. Did West get less funding? Did they lose teachers? Was there some punishment inflicted on anyone at West?

The answer is NO.

Then what is the big deal? There isn’t one.

Students in failing schools are not being punished because of the school grade. What may be happening is that someone who was thinking of enrolling at a failing school decided to go someplace else. And that’s okay because that is their decision.

School grades do not indicate the value of the education at a school. They indicate an arbitrary line that says being above the line is good and being below the line is bad. That is all they tell you. And any group can set the line wherever they want to.

Where do I set the line? I ask this question, “Are students progressing at least one year per subject?” If they are, the school, and the student, is passing. If not, then what does it take for students to progress one year in every subject? When you have those answers, you have a successful school.

The schools I have worked with over the years have typically worked to help students make that progress. That means an English-language learner works at their level and an Advanced Placement student works at their level. They each are striving to achieve at least one year of learning in their subjects.

And when that happens, you have an “A School” in my gradebook.