Dallas Dance
If you have kids in Baltimore County Public Schools, you no doubt know that under a new grading policy, behavior and homework will no longer count toward students’ letter grades. In an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun, BCPS Superintendent S. Dallas Dance sets out to explain.
Those skills [completing homework, participating in class, etc.] will be scored on a scale from 0 to 3 on the report card, using the Baltimore County Public Schools Skills and Conduct Indicator Rubric … The rubric is part of the report card, which also indicates absences, tardies, early dismissals and attendance because students need to be in class every day and on time.
In this way, behavior now counts more than ever, and report cards will more accurately reflect the full range of knowledge and skills demonstrated by each student.
You can read the full editorial here. Does this clarification make sense to you?
Elements of the new grading policy could work well if there’s some consistency (and if students aren’t blowing off deadlines, homework or decent classroom behavior). Fixing/expanding work, responding to teacher feedback, and redos can be helpful, as can a body of evidence in terms of learning. My question is: Who is determining the oft-mentioned ‘standards?’ Where are those set out? Here is an interesting FAQ sheet about specific grading decisions and parameters as posted on Towson High School’s site, sourced to BCPS:
https://towsonhs.bcps.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_244352/File/webmaster/General%20Info/frequenty%20asked%20questions.pdf
And here is another district whose parents are going through similar concerns re: the new grading policy being adopted at BCPS, with its goals of “competency.” BTW, is competency really a high standard? What does this really mean? Seems we are “leveling the playing field for our kids” by sinking the playing field ever lower….
http://www.centralmaine.com/2013/05/30/large-turn-out-at-rsu-18-meeting-on-its-use-of-standards-based-curriculum/
Response to the Superintendent’s letter and to the Baltimore Sun, specifically: I think that the main issue here is that Superintendent Dance is pushing the agenda and ideas of the ed tech industry, all as his own ideas. Even the new grading and homework policies are almost verbatim and in alignment with the ed-tech industry’s ideas on those subjects. Due to lack of oversight, he has managed to keep that a secret all of this time –from the Baltimore Sun, from Maryland’s (and Baltimore County’s) elected officials and from Baltimore County’s Board of Education, itself. Or, perhaps, our elected officials, Board of Ed and Baltimore Sun already know that this is the case and have created the necessary conditions that allow Baltimore County stakeholders and students to be mowed-over by corporate interests that include ed tech vendors (most of whom have no educational background) and who want nothing more than to take charge of (and cash in on) our children’s education. Is this the case? [TIME Magazine recently called the entire computer-centered education movement a “$60-Billion Dollar hoax”. Diane Ravitch called out Baltimore County Public Schools and its STAT program, specifically, as a $300 million dollar hoax.] The ideas being pushed through (like the grading policy change) are not actually Baltimore County Public Schools inspired and are not actually independent thought brought about after a “task force” studied the concept that brought forth recommendations to the superintendent and school board. There is the hoax. That is more like “research in… Read more »
Wow! You are right re: “competency” being favored by the virtual and online/blended learning advocates. The Competency Works site realty does align with the new BCPS grading policy, speaking of mastery ideals, etc. The link: http://www.competencyworks.org/insights-into-implementation/classroom-practice/whats-homework-got-to-do-with-it/
I had been wondering about that. The site is copyrighted by the edtech group mentioned in this comment too, iNACOL What will this mean, then? More screen time for students as they are tested online for such competences, as indicated. And is this partly meant to do away with grade levels as they state? My head is spinning. And gees, this school district seems to be one educational experiment after another, with our kids the test subjects. I’m getting increasingly uncomfortable with this likely Trojan Horse.
… Here is one of many INACOL baits on the competency works site.
“iNACOL Symposium is the best place to meet up with competency-based innovators from across the nation. October 25-28th (and look for pre-conference workshops as well) in San Antonio.”
Will our superintendent and his staff be attending this gig too?
Read about the new grading policy and how it’s needed to further mastery-based education in county schools: https://statusbcps.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/baltimore-county-update-cbe-in-pictures-words-and-a-totally-revamped-bcps-grading-policy-aligned-with-mastery-based-ed/
No, It doesn’t. It sounds like bs.