Good-Bye Finals; Reassessing Reassessments for High School Students
This last week was supposed to be “Finals Week” for Southeast Polk High School Students. Finals Week did not happen; and no, it was not because of the severe weather and snowfall Iowa was blessed with that closed schools statewide. Finals (as in semester final exams) are a thing of the past; at least at Southeast Polk High School. My husband and I have a senior at Southeast Polk and I am sure every high school student (along with our son) is celebrating the fact that final exams are a thing of the past.
Instead of being tested on what was supposed to be learned over the last semester, students have the option to select a standard from each class on their schedule and redo it for a better grade. I am certain that this protocol goes along with Southeast Polk’s new standardized referenced grading that I referred to in my 10/18/23 blog post.
According to standardized referenced grading, 59.5% is a passing grade and a 1 on a scale of 1 to 4 is acceptable. Not only that, but there are many assignments that do not go into the gradebook. Students can choose to do or not do weekly assignments. They do not matter, because if the student does well on the quizzes & tests, they will pass the class. Students must earn a minimum of 59.5% and must have a standard score of at least 1 for every standard to receive credit for a course. All students have the opportunity to reassess standards. This is where reassessment week come in.
Last year when grading was “normal”, students could opt out of two final exams per semester if they had perfect attendance. This was lenient enough for my taste as I still remember the good-old-days when all students were expected to take a final exam for every class. It did not matter if you had perfect attendance or had a 4.0; all students took final exams. Shouldn’t the overall philosophy be that students should go to school to learn and better yet retain the information they are being taught. Final exams are part of the process that ensure students, faculty and the system are doing their part to turn productive educated young adults out into the real world.
I took the liberty to pull some data from the Iowa Department of Education website and found that 1) the district’s “proficiency” has fallen from years past 2) the district’s “proficiency” falls dramatically as students enter the high school level from the 8th grade 3) compared to other large districts in the State of Iowa of similar size, Southeast Polk is far from the top of the list. Here are some of the numbers:
Last year 2022-2023 Southeast Polk 3rd through 8th Graders had proficiency percentages in the mid to high seventies. By the time students reach high school, proficiency levels start to fall. Southeast Polk 8th Graders were 79.8% proficient (399 proficient/101 not proficient). The 9th Grade Class fell to 69.1% proficient (398 proficient/178 not proficient), 10th Graders fell again to 67.7% proficient (373 proficient/178 not proficient) and 11th Grader fell to 62.5% proficient (359 proficient/215 not proficient). The 11th Grade class last year is the districts senior class this year and will graduate in May of 2024. Our district will be turning out over two hundred young adults who are not proficient according to the State of Iowa’s 2023 Spring Student Assessments.
Comparing Southeast Polk 2022-2023 11th Graders (this year’s graduating class) to other districts comparable in size this is what is published: Southeast Polk 62.5% proficient (359 proficient/215 nor proficient), Ankeny 83.5% proficient (719 proficient/142 not proficient), Waukee 79.4% proficient (688 proficient/178 not proficient), Johnston 78.8% proficient (416 proficient/112 not proficient), Cedar Falls 78.7% proficient (318 proficient/86 not proficient), Iowa City 69.9% proficient (716 proficient/309 not proficient), Linn-Marr 69.8% proficient (354 proficient/163 not proficient), and West Des Moines 68.2% proficient (425 proficient/198 not proficient), Waterloo 58.6% proficient (312 proficient/220 not proficient) and Sioux City 52.4% proficient (499 proficient/454 not proficient). The average of all 11th Graders in the state of Iowa was 68.2% and Southeast Polk is below average by 5.7 percentage points sitting at a 62.5% proficiency rate.
If I had to read between the lines, I would say that Southeast Polk is sitting in some hot water with the Iowa Department of Education regarding academics. Making the shift to Standardized Referenced Grading and Reassessments is a way to make the school district look better on paper. Students are not being held to a higher standard. We are lowering the standards making it easier for students to pass classes. Meanwhile we are not making it easier on these same students as they venture out into trade school, a college career or even directly into the workforce. The result in this lower standard of grading will likely mean that faculty, administration and the school board have fewer eyes on them for poor academic performance in one of the largest school districts in the state. The long-lasting result will also be that we are also producing less educated & responsible adults.
Think about this; the Southeast Polk Community School District was proud to unveil their new $23 million football stadium this last fall (home of three-peat 5a football champions). During the ribbon cutting, the president of the schoolboard bragged about the “107 water closets” available in the new stadium and was so excited about the opening of the stadium, which was years in the making and part of her legacy. The stadium is an amazing structure and is her legacy as a long-term schoolboard member. However, shouldn’t the legacy lie not within a multi-million-dollar stadium, but within the academic success of the 7,400 students the school district is responsible for? It seems as if we have turned a blind eye to the real needs of our students and have been distracted by big bright shiny objects and not the well-being of the student body and the people within our community.
Sadly, our standards have been lowered and it is to no fault of the students. While they are celebrating the fact that they will never have to take a final exam again, that a 59.5% is a passing grade, and that homework does not go in the gradebook; the district is hanging their hat on the notion that standardized referenced grading will save face (and maybe some jobs and school board seats) with the Iowa Department of Education.
I am promoting the voucher system the State of Iowa passed in 2023. If my kids were younger, I would take the tax credit and send them to private school.
