Suspend letter grades for schools again this year
Arizona’s teachers and students have started the second semester of a school year that has been impacted profoundly by COVID-19. As a teacher mentor and parent of three school-aged children, I’ve had a firsthand view of teachers supporting students during this time.
I’ve watched a first-grade teacher spend her entire lunch break consoling a crying 6-year-old over Zoom. I’ve marveled as a teacher instructed online students to create artwork from common kitchen ingredients. And when my family contracted COVID-19 in November, I witnessed the kindness of my son’s teacher when she quietly dropped off a care package on our porch.
If schools this year were judged by their teachers’ ability to empathize and adapt, most would earn an A+. Unfortunately, the official metrics used to evaluate schools in 2020-21 will measure something quite different.
This spring, Arizona teachers will administer mandatory standardized tests to students. Their test scores will weigh heavily in determining a school’s letter grade, or ranking. If students perform poorly, a school risks being labeled with an “F” grade, which can negatively impact a school’s reputation, funding and autonomy.
If you think it seems strange to grade schools during a pandemic, you’re not alone. On Dec. 14, the Arizona Board of Education passed a resolution recommending that the state not award letter grades for the 2020-21 school year. This echoes legislation signed by Gov. Doug Ducey back in March, which declared that school letter grades from 2018-19 would carry over into 2019-20.
Arizona chose not to award new letter grades last spring, and we should refrain from labeling schools with new letter grades in 2020-21, as well.
There are numerous reasons why grading schools this year is misguided. For starters, many students’ academic progress has slowed while attending “pandemic school.”
Research shows that from fall 2019 to fall 2020, elementary school students’ math achievement dropped by about 510%. For students in grades 6-12, the number of failing grades last semester skyrocketed from previous years. As students across the country learn more slowly right now, it simply doesn’t make sense to evaluate schools based on their academic growth.
Another reason to abandon school letter grades is that many students can’t control the factors interfering with their learning. Children might miss instruction due to a lack of reliable internet, the responsibility to care for younger siblings, or the absence of a parent to assist with online learning. Schools should not be penalized as they struggle to address these challenges.
Assigning school letter grades this year is also ill-advised because it prioritizes academics over students’ mental health. Many children are struggling with depression and anxiety, and it is important for teachers to make time for social-emotional learning during the pandemic.
However, when pressured to prepare students for high-stakes tests, teachers may devote less time to relationship building within their classrooms. Eliminating school letter grades this year would allow teachers flexibility to address both students’ academic and social-emotional needs.
All this is not to say that schools should abandon assessments altogether this year. On the contrary, teachers know that ongoing assessment can lead to significant academic gains. This testing data, however, should be used to inform a teacher’s instruction, not judge a school’s effectiveness.
Therefore, we need state lawmakers to stand with the Arizona Board of Education and officially state that schools will not be awarded letter grades in 2020-21. This action will allow teachers to focus on what truly matters this year: putting relationships before rigor, patience before programs, and grace before grades.