How will Wake grade students during pandemic? New school guidelines are out.
The Wake County school system is providing details on how final grades will be given to students and is asking parents to take a survey on how remote learning can be improved.
In an update posted late Tuesday afternoon, Wake County explains how it will carry out state guidance not to fail students this spring semester due to how the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted schools. It includes details on how high school students in grades 9-11 will be able to raise their grades.
The update also includes a link to an online survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N985N68) about how remote learning has been offered in Wake. All North Carolina public schools have switched to remote learning because school buildings have been closed by Gov. Roy Cooper for the rest of the school year.
It’s the first of two surveys that will be given this semester. Parents are asked to complete the survey by May 20.
“I know it’s been a stressful process, and I just want you to know that we appreciate your patience and your diligence,” Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore said to families at a news conference last week. “More importantly your teachers appreciate the effort.
“Teachers and administrators are doing their best to respond to your feedback in a way that makes remote learning both meaningful and manageable.”
The state’s public schools have been closed since mid-March to try to slow the spread of COVID-19. The State Board of Education adopted grading guidelines in April saying schools can’t lower students’ grades from where they were as of March 13.
The state board also said schools shouldn’t force students to repeat the grade level unless schools were in the process of doing that by March 13.
Moore said Friday that while the state provided the basic framework for grading, Wake school administrators had to flesh it out.
Wake’s elementary school students won’t get a final grade. Students in middle school will only get a “PC19” grade for passing or “WC19” for withdrawal for the semester based on how they were doing March 13.
High school students will pick their grades
Wake high school students in grades 9 through 11 can choose PC19, WC19 or a numerical grade for their final course grade for each individual spring classes. The numeric grade will be based on what they had achieved as of March 13 or if they can improve the mark during remote learning.
If they pick the non-numeric grade, it won’t be factored into their grade-point-average.
Wake students will find out by Wednesday what their grades were as of March 13. Teachers will let students know at least a week before the last day of classes what their final grade would be for the semester.
Wake says high school students will have until the first quarter of next school year to decide which grades to use. But if no decision is made by then, they’ll get the PC19 or WC19 grade.
“Consultation with your school counselor is an important step for all students in determining which option is most appropriate,” Wake says in its guidance. “Students should carefully consider their post-secondary plans in making this decision. It would be a rare situation where a student would benefit from posting a grade lower than 80.”
Wake’s update includes details on how high school students can raise their grade to try to boost their GPA. This includes how assignments issued from May 11 will be counted as a grade.
“As we consider how students can improve their grade during the period of remote learning, we have to acknowledge that no grading structure will be equitable to all in this unique time,” Wake posted. “As a result, our goal is to achieve the most positive result possible for the most number of students possible.”
The survey request comes as state lawmakers are requiring school districts to submit by July 20 their plan to use remote learning for next school year. All school districts have to build five days of remote learning into their schedules for next school year.
Some parents have complained about how remote learning is being provided. School leaders say it’s been a case of them responding to an emergency situation that’s never occurred before.
Moore says some remote learning will likely still be used next fall due to social distancing rules that could limit how many students are in the building and individual classrooms at any given time.
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
