Superintendent Reykdal eliminates ‘F’ grades in COVID-19 grading principles

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction published new guidance this week for student learning and grading statewide during the remainder of the COVID-19 school closure.

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Superintendent Chris Reykdal explained the guidance, which focuses on the grading system for high school students and middle school students taking courses for high-school credit.

Students in grades K-8 are tasked with focusing on a few standards, keeping it simple, and moving to the next grade. In the coming years, the OSPI and educators will make sure all students are successful in the classroom.

Previously, the OSPI had asked for feedback and responses from students, teachers, and parents on a grading policy. There was no consensus coming into this decision, which was further shown in the feedback they received, he said.

“We tried to draw everyone’s major interests together to meet a statewide policy interest that I hope will guide our districts, will make more consistency, but still give them some flexibility,” Reykdal said.

Last year at this time, 76 percent of high school students had either an A, B, or C grade.

“We are a standards based state,” he said. “We want students to demonstrate what they know and the skills to perform effectively at their next step.”

It’s not about the homework and worksheets, Reykdal said, but rather about what students know. The grading systems in place and the new guidance for this spring try to reflect that.

There was feedback submitted for an A-only system, but that has its own challenges. Should a D student also get the A, for example? Students, in particular, weren’t sure of the fairness of that system. Others recommended a pass/fail system, but there are inequities there as well.

The statewide approach provided by Reykdal and the OSPI is a framework, but still gives the local districts flexibility in deciding what will work best for their students.

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“I take very seriously my role to only send guidance and framework for the most part, but there’s a couple places in the law where OSPI can clearly establish statewide approaches and our transcript and our crediting system is one of them, and we’re going to take the opportunity to do that,” Reykdal said.

The superintendent outlined seven principles of the grading system for the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

1. Do no harm. Every student should be confident that they’re not going to move backward.
2. Every student has a chance to improve their grade.
3. No F grades will be given this term for any high school students, and there will also be no simple “pass” or “no credit” grades. A pass/fail system could give students who are struggling the same mark as a student who has mastered the material, Reykdal explained. Districts may choose to adopt an A-D, A-C, A-B, or even A-only system with an incomplete option, but there will be no failing grades.
4.  Students will earn a grade or an incomplete.
5. All transcripts will reflect a COVID-19 indicator on this spring’s term so anyone evaluating the transcript in the future can immediately see this designation. Many people had asked for a historic record of this moment, and Reykdal hopes this indication can help to ease anxiety.
6. Students who are assigned an incomplete will be provided options to make up any missed learning. Again, it’s not a failure, it won’t hurt a student’s GPA, it’s not a withdraw or a no credit. It’s a pause, Reykdal said, to identify that there was not enough time or opportunities to engage with the material. These make-up options can come in the form of summer or online courses, continued learning next year, independent study, competency-based assessments, or a back-filled grade.
7. All students have the opportunity to engage with their learning.

Reykdal hopes these guidelines give students some choice, and prevent any failing grades. Any student can re-engage and learn, and he believes no one should be held back because of this crisis.

“Students, take it seriously,” Reykdal said. “This isn’t about grades, but we live in a world where there are consequences for grades and we don’t want any harm to be done to your efforts. But this is also mostly about learning.”

He thanked parents for supporting their students, and thanked educators for their work and dedication.

“This is the time for standards,” Reykdal said. “It’s the time to simplify, [focus on] very narrow things that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and their ability to perform well at the next step.”

OSPI’s guidance and resources on COVID-19 are available on the OSPI website here.