A school district in Portland, Oregon, introduced new “equitable grading” practices that require teachers to accept late work.
Teachers are also to avoid giving zeros if the student is cheating.
A handout titled “Portland Public Schools Equitable Grading Practices Summary” describes how the policies are to be implemented.
“Historical data shows that there are racial disparities in our pass/fail rate in multiple subjects in both middle grades and high school,” the district’s handout read.
“During the pandemic we adjusted our grading to accommodate for some of the inequities in access to curriculum and instruction. This caused many teachers to begin the journey towards equitable grading but has led to a mosaic of grading practices across schools and across the district that is confusing to students and families. We need to organize and consolidate our efforts towards common policies to more consistently and better support students and families with equitable grading.”
The handout goes on to explain that equitable grading practices are “accurate” because they are “based on calculations that are mathematically sound.”
Instead of giving students zeros, teachers are to “provide a minimum grade greater than or equal to 50% for work that does not meet expectations, is incomplete, or is missing.”
Reporting from The Blaze:
Educators are also asked to abandon a 0-100 grading scale and replace it with a 0-4 scale, which it stated is “more mathematically accurate.” Students’ grades will be weighted against their most recent performance instead of assessed over the entire semester. To combat educators’ “implicit bias,” homework will not be graded. Teachers cannot penalize late work or provide extra credit. Students will be allowed the opportunity to retake tests and redo assignments. “Non-academic factors,” including attendance, performance, effort, attitude, and behavior, will also not be included in students’ grades.
