Forums set to explain standards base
By Eileen M. Adams
Staff Writer

MEXICO – When parents receive their child’s first report card of the school year, they will see something entirely different from traditional report cards.

In place of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s, they will find E’s, M’s, P’s, and N’s.

The reporting system is part of SAD 43’s efforts to follow the Maine Learning Results. To do this, teachers will assess students on how well each meets the standards set by the state in math, language arts and other subjects. Youngsters in grades kindergarten through nine will receive the first report card with this new assessment in early December.

“E” means the student has exceeded state standards, “M” means he has met the standard, “P” means the student has partially met standards, and “N” tells the parent and child that the standard has not been met.

Along with the change in letter grades will be a change in the number of times a year report cards are sent out. Starting this year, assessments will be reported three times a year, rather than the traditional quarterly reports.

Superintendent James Hodgkin and Curriculum Coordinator Gloria Jenkins know that parents will have lots of questions about the new system. To try to explain it and why it is being used, two community forums have been scheduled for next week.

Each forum will be presented twice at Mountain Valley Middle School. Part I, set for 12:30 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. Nov. 5, will be an explanation of why the new system, known as standards based reporting, is being used, how it fits in with the federal No Child Left Behind initiative, and how the reporting method was developed.

Part II, set for 12:30 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. on Nov. 6, will be an explanation of how standard-based reporting works, which grades it will be used with, and definitions of each of the new letter grades. Other concerns, such as how the traditional honor roll will be applied, affects of the new system on college applications, and the relationship between standards-based reporting and high school graduation will also be addressed.

During traditional grading, such things as attendance, effort and behavior sometimes figured into the grade. With the new system, they won’t, said Jenkins. But these attributes will be assessed in another part of the new report card, she added.

Because students must meet standards in order to move into the next grade, Hodgkin said any remediation must be done immediately.

How that will be done has not been determined. Jenkins said it could take the form of additional staff or alternative classroom materials.

Hodgkin said the new system is, in fact, very new. The district has no forerunner to learn from.

“We’ll keep making our best judgments,” he said.

The forums, he believes, is one way to prevent confusion by parents.

“Our goal is to present information to as many people as possible,” he said.

“I really hope they come,” said Jenkins. “There is a lot of information.”

A follow-up session will be held on Nov. 12 to give parents a chance to ask questions after the annual parent/teacher conferences are held. These take place on Nov. 10 at each of the district’s five schools.

Specific educational standards must be met all students in order to graduate by the class of 2007.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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