“Our mandate in public education is no longer to sort and rank students; Who’s the best? Who’s the worst? Who’s in the middle? Our mandate is to ensure the success of every student,†said Assistant Superintendent Rick Jarrett. We need to describe, in language, what performance is supposed to look like,†Jarrett said. “The number, for example, tells (students) almost nothing without some form of language that describes their performance. So we’re moving to language.†Jarrett says teachers’ professional judgement plays a huge role in determining where a student stands. Percentages will be provided to students upon request, and when it comes time to provide report cards, it is up to the teacher’s professional judgement to provide a percentage, Jarrett explained.
To do that, teachers will use the information they’ve gathered throughout the year “and say you know what, here’s where I’m putting you, this is where I know you’re at because of the learning that you’ve demonstrated and the way that we’ve evaluated your performance,†Jarrett explained