Jun
29
Written by:
Andy Hogue
6/29/2010 2:00 PM
District Judge Gisela Triana-Doyal upheld a recently enacted truth-in-grading law Monday, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The decision was a defeat to 11 school districts in the Houston area, which sued the state on the grounds that districts have the right to determine their own grading policies. They countered that the law only applied to classroom work and not semesterly report cards or district paperwork.
Critics of minimum-grading call that practice "grade inflation" while supporters say it helps deter drop-outs and keeps underperforming students in the classroom with their higher-scoring peers.
The Morning News reported that the Dallas and Fort Worth ISDs have minimum grades of 50 -- not a base of 0 as the truth-in-grading law, sponsored by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) in the 81st session, now requires.
In an op-ed June 14, Nelson shared her thoughts on the subject:
"The bill that I authored last year requires districts to adopt written grading policies prior to the start of the school year. These policies direct teachers to assign grades that reflect a student's mastery of the coursework. A district cannot force teachers to assign minimum grades without regard to a student's quality of work. However, a district can adopt policies to provide reasonable opportunity for a student to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.
"Support from all four statewide teachers' groups helped propel the bill to unanimous passage in the Texas Legislature. When school began last fall, the vast majority of districts followed the law, and adopted appropriate grading policies.
"But a few began looking for a way around the law. They argued that the statute makes no mention of report card grades, so it should apply only to course assignments and tests. That argument struck me as ridiculous. Report card grades, after all, are cumulative of a student's scores on assignment and tests. Commissioner [Robert] Scott agreed, and notified districts they should comply."
Accurately reflecting student performance, Nelson told the Morning News, is a victory for both educators and parents.
"Knowing the truth about a student's progress is important information for helping all children succeed in school," Nelson said via the News.