Public Education Department plans to scrap A-F grading system
The New Mexico Public Education Department aims to scrap the state’s A-F grading system for public schools, which critics have said puts too much emphasis on student test scores.
Under proposed changes to the state’s plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, the agency says it will replace an accountability system that identifies schools as failing with one that classifies them by the amount of state and federal support they require.
“This is a shift in philosophy from seeing schools as failing to seeing a call to action,” said Tim Hand, deputy secretary of the education department. “This underscores how we see that our role at the Public Education Department is to lead with support.”
The effort comes as Democratic state lawmakers have introduced two measures — Senate Bill 229 by Sen. Mimi Stewart and House Bill 639 by Rep. G. Andrés Romero — that would repeal a law creating the A-F grading system.
While the House version has not yet had its first committee hearing, SB 229 has cleared the Senate Education Committee and Public Affairs Committee and is headed to the Senate floor.
But the education department won’t wait for a repeal of the school grading law to begin moving forward with its new rating system, Hand said.
“If the A-F is still in statue, then we would have to run that system,” he said. “But this is still something we can do independently.”
The agency also will be releasing a new digital dashboard in which CONTINUE READING: Public Education Department plans to scrap A-F grading system | Education | santafenewmexican.com