RUMFORD – A new grading system at the high school promises to better show how well students are doing in their classes.

That was the primary message SAD 43 administrators delivered to about 30 parents of high school students, or those who will be soon, at an informational meeting Tuesday night. The forum was the third in a series of meetings during the school year to explain the Maine Learning Results and standards-based reporting.

Elementary and middle school students already receive the new grades that measure a child’s grasp of various learning standards. Grades are: E, exceeds the standard; M, meets the standard; P, partially meets a standard; and N, does not meet a specific standard. Satisfactorily meeting each educational standard is required by the Maine Learning Results.

High school students continue to receive the traditional A through F grades, along with the new system. And by 2007, the first class at Mountain Valley High School will graduate with grades listed only in the new system.

Superintendent James Hodgkin said every district in the state is charged with using the Maine Learning Results standards and developing a comprehensive testing program to assure that these standards are being met.

High school Principal Bruce Lindberg said colleges look at four factors when deciding whether to admit a student: not only the courses that a child takes, but those that he doesn’t take; ranking in a graduating class; results of standardized tests; and letters of recommendation.

The new grading system will also provide numerical ranking, such as 3.0, 2.5, etc. beginning next fall.

And to help students learn a concept that is difficult, rather than wait until poor results on a test, immediate help will be provided through learning labs designed to offer students remedial instruction. Plans are under way to restructure the high school day next year that will accommodate built-in time for extra help, said Lindberg.

“Kids learn at different speeds and in different ways,” he said, adding that extra help may also include an alternative approach to learning a particular concept.

Hodgkin believes the University of Maine system will adapt to the new way of reporting student achievement because it is mandated. In other college admission processes, high school transcripts must show that the student was challenged as much as possible.

Transcripts must be clear, he said, adding that they must also explain student abilities for military or employment purposes as well.

The first graduating class with the new grading system and Maine Learning Results standards, will receive either a standards based diploma that covers mastery of English, Social Studies, math and science, or a certificate of completion of studies.

The latter, said Hodgkin, is what Mountain Valley and most other high schools in the state give now. If a student successfully completes 22 credits, that student receives a diploma.

The new standards based diploma will better assess student knowledge, he said.

[email protected]