Battle Ground Public Schools

April 23, 2020

Superintendent’s message about second semester grades

Dear families of Battle Ground Public Schools,

Let me start this message about grading by saying that I am grateful to you, our parents and guardians. We know that you have found yourselves in the new position of coaching your children day in and day out through academics. This is no small feat, and we hope that you stop, take a deep breath, and remember that we are in this together when the frustrations run high. 

OSPI Guidance
Here at the school district, the leadership team and building principals have spent a great deal of time considering the equitability of assigning grades during the school building closure. This week, we received the Student Learning and Grading Guidance issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for Washington State students in grades K-12. 

The rules, which OSPI drafted based on feedback from parents, students and educators, are meant to provide statewide consistency and local flexibility for districts when assessing student learning during the remainder of the school year.  

Grading for Battle Ground students
Based on this guidance, Battle Ground has determined how it will assign final grades for the second semester.

Middle AND High School

• Students will receive letter grades of A, B, C, or D or an incomplete “I” designation on their high school transcript. All second semester high school classes will have a statewide designator to indicate the course was taken during the COVID-19 school closure.
• For each class, the grade that students had earned as of March 13 is the baseline grade. All students will have the opportunity to improve their baseline letter grade. The final letter grade will not be lower than the baseline letter grade. Students can improve the grades they had earned as of March 13, and should contact their teachers to discuss the options for doing that.
• An F may not be given as a letter grade. If a student’s baseline letter grade was an F, and the student has not made an effort to, or had an opportunity to improve their grade due to COVID-related circumstances, the student may receive an incomplete.
• Students assigned an “incomplete” for a course will be given opportunities to re-engage and meet the learning standards.
• The last day for Seniors to turn in work will be their date of graduation.

Dual Credit Courses or College in the High School
In order to receive college credit, students currently enrolled in these courses must continue their learning to meet the objectives/outcomes of the class and obtain a B or better grade. This means that if students had a B as of March 13 but do not continue the learning, they would not be eligible for dual credit.  They would be eligible to get high school credit, but not the college credit. 

Primary School
Teachers will assign marks for all academic subject areas covered by second semester instruction, including those covered during remote learning. Areas in which no significant instruction is provided will be graded as not applicable (NA).

K-8 Advancement
All K-8 students will be challenged to demonstrate effort and success in learning standards established by their teachers. Students will move on to the next grade, unless parents/guardians and teachers agree the student should repeat a grade or a portion of missed learning.

For the Love of Learning
I know what many of you are thinking. Why should students keep working on assignments or stay engaged with teachers if their grade can’t be negatively impacted, or they can’t fail if currently passing?

We hope that our students will engage because teachers will be covering material that will help prepare students for their next grade level or course. Teachers will focus their instruction on essential learning standards to improve students’ skills and help them learn valuable concepts. Everyone has the opportunity to improve their grades, and for some this opportunity could lead to graduating with their class on time.

I would also encourage students to focus on the areas that they need to get better at or perhaps spend more time with the subjects that they have a passion for, whether that’s in the arts, science, reading, math, etc. While we know that our current situation is not ideal, it does give students and teachers the opportunity to experiment with new ways of learning and to find things to focus on that they previously did not have time for.

What we ask of our parents is that you continue to encourage your students to stay engaged with their teachers and to support your children in this new learning environment. We appreciate your partnership and efforts to coach your children.

Take care, stay safe, and stay healthy.

Mark Ross, Superintendent
Battle Ground Public Schools