Acadia alters grading policy

• By BOB ARDOIN
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Oct 7, 2008 - Page: 2BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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CROWLEY — The grading policy for some subjects in five elementary grade levels for the first semester was altered unanimously following much discussion Monday by the Acadia Parish School Board.

Grades for reading, English and spelling will be changed from traditional letter grades of A through F to grades of S, N and U for at least the initial 18 weeks of classes, according to the revised policy.

Curriculum Director Margaret Jones told the board the changes are necessary since students in those grades are having trouble adapting to a new reading series.

Jones said the SRA reading curriculum now grades students’ abilities to write short essays and apply punctuation and spelling, something which had not been done previously.

The new policy will give students a S for satisfactory when earning a numerical percentage of 77-100, a N for improvement if they attain a 70-76 and a U for averages of 0-69.

Students in grades one and two will still receive letter grades in math for the first semester, while those in third grade will obtain letter grades in math, science and social studies, the new policy indicates.

Those in grades four and five will be given letter grades in all subjects except reading, English and spelling, according to the new policy. Superintendent Johnny Bourque said the SRA curriculum is vastly different from the previous reading series the parish used, making it more difficult.

Jones said some students are struggling to adapt to the teaching strategies, and changing the grading policy would relieve some of the stress students, parents and teachers are experiencing.

Eagan Elementary Principal Judy Myers said changing the grading system is “setting the students up for success rather than failure.”

Board member Douglas LaCombe questioned the need for the change, while board member Lynn Shamsie feared the parish is lowering its academic standards. Jones told Shamsie it’s more of a matter of giving the schools more time to get used to the reading program. Shamsie said he wished the district had brought the matter to a committee before voting on it during a regular meeting.

Branch Elementary Principal Keith Cahanin said he knows of parents who are paddling children at home because of bad grades due to the changes in the reading series.

“I don’t like that,” Cahanin said.

In another matter the board awarded a 10-month school garbage collection contract to Allied Waste Services.