Standards-Based Grading at the Morse School

For the 2018-2019 school year, the Morse School has joined some other Cambridge elementary schools in implementing a standards-based report card. Our new report card will replace the traditional letter-grade reporting system with a grading system focused on measuring student mastery of the academic content standards (which reflect the things that students should know and be able to do by the end of each school year). The new report card will provide more detailed feedback to you and your child’s teacher about your child’s progress towards attaining the specific skills and knowledge outlined in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for his/her grade level.

If your child is in grades 1-5, the report card you receive at your parent/teacher conference on Wednesday December 12th will feature the following metric:

3 - Meeting Expectations
2 - Partially Meeting Expectations
1 - Not Meeting Expectations

There may also be standards on the report card that are labeled as “NA” which means that at this time in the year the particular standard has not yet been taught or assessed. Standards based reporting aims to take behavioral concerns out of the reporting of academic performance. Your child will receive separate grades on his/her report card for social/emotional development and work habits.

For a great overview of the considerations and benefits of standards-based grading, we invite you to view this 4-minute video (Although posted by Alpine School District in Utah, the video breaks down the same essential elements you will see on the Morse School report card in December).

If you have any additional questions about our new grading system, please ask your child’s teacher or contact Principal Chad Leith or Assistant Principal Samantha Headley.

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