Durham Public Schools giving all students A’s on end-of-course exams because of COVID

Durham Public Schools is guaranteeing all students an A on their state-mandated final exams this semester.

The school board approved an adjusted grading scale of 90 to 100 for all End-of-Course and Career and Technical Education exams. Last week’s vote followed the State Board of Education giving local districts the option to weigh exam scores differently this year, Durham school board Chair Bettina Umstead said.

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction uses EOC exams to measure a student’s knowledge in four subjects: Math 1, Math 3, English II and Biology.

The exams are taken mostly by high school students, and must count for 20% of students’ final grades for the course.

The 20% requirement is in state law, according to state Superintendent-elect Catherine Truitt. But current state Superintendent Mark Johnson says it’s only required by state board policy.

“We want to honor the work that students have done so far and recognize that we are in unprecedented times,” Umstead said.

In a memo in November, state board Chair Eric Davis told superintendents they could use their “own derived 0 to 100 scale” for both exams.

Students can take the tests during the spring and up until the beginning of July, Davis wrote. However, if students choose to wait, they will receive an “incomplete” for the course in the mean time.

The state is giving districts more flexibility because instruction has not gone as planned, Truitt said.

“Our EOC’s are actually predicated on a certain number of days per year of face-to-face instruction,” Truitt said in an interview with The News & Observer. “And we have not had that because of the pandemic”

The tests must be conducted in-person, despite the rise of COVID-19 cases across North Carolina, the N&O has reported.

Umstead heard from families who are worried about taking the exams, she said. Much of the concern was over whether students would remember the coursework if they postponed their tests to spring.

“I think the board is thinking about how we can be flexible inside of that,” she said.

Other districts change grading scales

Other Triangle school districts are changing their grading scales for state standardized exams, but not going as far as Durham has.

In Wake County, the lowest score a student can get if they take those state tests will be a 60, said Brad McMillen, the district’s assistant superintendent for data, research and accountability. But he also said Wake is using its state flexibility so that the test scores will only count if they raise the student’s grade for the class.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will use a grading scale of 50 to 100, said spokesperson Jeffrey Nash.

Actual test results are still recorded

Although DPS will give all students a minimum of a 90 on the exams, the students’ actual test results will still show up on their official transcripts seen by colleges and universities.

The district will also report actual test results to the state, which will factor it into school performance grades.

Chip Sudderth, a spokesperson for Durham Public Schools, said the district is still deciding how the adjusted grade on final exams may affect a student’s progressing to the next level of a course.

“However, we recognize that a pandemic and virtual learning presents unique challenges,” he said. “And we are going to support our students with grace to the greatest extent possible.”

Umstead said the exam results are just one data point the district uses to understand student progress.

“I trust that our educators, our teachers, our principals, know our students, know where they are academically,” she said. “They will be providing the support necessary to ensure that no one falls through the cracks.

Knowing the extent of learning loss

Truitt doesn’t support using an assessment punitively for teachers or schools, but said the exams give the state’s education leaders helpful information.

“We need to know the extent of the learning loss that our students have suffered,” she said. “And it is possible to give these exams, give these assessments, and use that data to learn where our students are, perhaps what they’ve learned, what they’ve not learned.”

Truitt would not comment on the choices local superintendents are making on grading scales, she said.

State education leaders have warned about how more students may need to repeat a grade this year for falling behind due to the coronavirus pandemic, The N&O reported.

One-quarter of high school and middle school students in Wake County have failed a class during remote learning, The N&O reported.

Durham Public Schools has not released data on how the pandemic has impacted students’ grades.

Bryan Setser, a parent who runs an education consulting group, told the N&O he doesn’t support numeric assessments on learning.

But he also said adopting a 90 to 100 scale is the wrong approach because the test scores may not show what students actually know.

“Nor does it give teachers, support staff or parents any kind of way to support their learning,” he said. “Because the information is not apples to apples. I mean, lumping kids all in one grade does not further learning.”

Federal law requires the state’s schools to have a 95% participation rate for the tests, said Truitt, but the Department of Public Instruction will request a waiver for the requirement in January, she said.

This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 11:30 AM.