Weekly Hot News Podcast, April 27, 2020

On Wednesday, April 22nd, the Oregon Department of Education released guidance for students and teachers of Grades K-8 around grading, reporting, and the approach that should be taken to teaching and learning. A letter was sent to all families and is posted to our website that goes into more detail, but a couple of the key points are that a “pass” or “incomplete” marking system, or its equivalent, will be used for report cards - which will be generated for every student at the end of the year - and that the promotion of students to the next grade level or course will not be based on performance during the period of extended school closure. Also, since guidance was released for our high school students there has been some confusion around grading practices. Please remember that students’ performance in their classes as of Friday, March 13th, determined their marks in those classes for second semester. This represents a “floor” for their marks - a “pass” will never become an “incomplete,” but students with “incompletes” will have additional opportunities to pass their classes and earn credits. Students are still encouraged and expected to attend classes they’ve passed, and teachers will continue to assign homework and projects. Those assignments may be “graded,” however, the purpose of the grades is for feedback purposes only. For additional information, please see our website.