ROCKWOOD ADMINISTRATORS SLIPPED IT PAST THE SCHOOL BOARD. NOW THEY'RE SLIPPING IT PAST PARENTS: THERE'S NO MENTION IN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION THAT GRADES ARE BEING INFLATED FOR ROCKWOOD'S MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS.
Botched communication.
Information left out of public documents.
See how a "C" becomes a "B" with the new rule.
Information left out of public documents.
See how a "C" becomes a "B" with the new rule.
Meanwhile, no one is telling parents what's really going on.
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It's October. Grade inflation has been effecting student grades in all six of Rockwood's middle schools, for weeks now.
It's October. Grade inflation has been effecting student grades in all six of Rockwood's middle schools, for weeks now.
Yet, parents say, to date, they have received no official communication about the way middle school teachers are required to grade student work this year:
50% is now the lowest grade possible, even for work that is never turned in.
Assignments that ARE turned in, but, scored below 50%, will have points added in time for report cards.
This teacher explained: "...the expectation is if you haven't checked the 50%, that we better make sure they are that way by the end of the semester."--middle school teacher in Rockwood.
The teacher says a system to let parents know the actual grade was lower is in the works. Conceivably, though, parents might never know their child's grade was inflated.
WHERE'S THE DISTRICT?
The teacher says a system to let parents know the actual grade was lower is in the works. Conceivably, though, parents might never know their child's grade was inflated.
WHERE'S THE DISTRICT?
Nothing has come from district administrators, parents say.
And, the only communication their principals put out was about OTHER grading changes.
It never mentioned the 50% minimum grade rule.
PARENT REACTION
And, the only communication their principals put out was about OTHER grading changes.
It never mentioned the 50% minimum grade rule.
PARENT REACTION
"I found it buried in his weekly update. It doesn't mention anything about the 50%, just that there were changes made!" --Rockwood middle school mom.
"I can't stand them not being completely transparent about what is really happening!" --Rockwood middle school mom.
"Not putting in explicit writing, the new grading scale for parents to see - is just awful. We the parents/caregivers need to know these things." --mom of a Rockwood middle school student
"The rollout of this new practice is terrible," says a Rockwood middle school dad.
PRINCIPALS SCRAMBLE
"I can't stand them not being completely transparent about what is really happening!" --Rockwood middle school mom.
"Not putting in explicit writing, the new grading scale for parents to see - is just awful. We the parents/caregivers need to know these things." --mom of a Rockwood middle school student
"The rollout of this new practice is terrible," says a Rockwood middle school dad.
PRINCIPALS SCRAMBLE
Those parents are talking about the recent flurry of identically worded messaging that showed up from their principals on Parent Square.
Communication from Rockwood Valley, Crestview, LaSalle Springs, and Wildwood middle schools were all brought to our attention, with the most recent dated October 1st.
Seven weeks after the school year started.
Below is part of it. You can read the communication in its entirety at the bottom of this post.
Below is part of it. You can read the communication in its entirety at the bottom of this post.
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| Screenshot of communication from the principal at Crestview Middle school, as seen on Parent Square. It has the same wording that was shown to us from other middle schools. |
Summary of the official communication:
The communications explain that a group of teachers and administrators analyzed student achievement data last year and decided to make changes to identify student "mindsets and behaviors" required for success.
OTHER CHANGES INCLUDED, SORT OF
The rest of the wording includes justification for making their changes, such as: grades should be reflective of what a student knows, practice should be "penalty free," homework generally shouldn't be included in the grade, late work should have a behavior intervention, and students should have the opportunity to learn more and "reassess."
Translation from teachers:
*Homework doesn't count for a grade, except in rare circumstances.
*No points off for late work. Instead, we'll talk about it in Aclab (study hall).
*"Reassess" means students get to retake tests.
LEFT OUT
Not included at all: 50% is the lowest grade possible because Rockwood changed the points range for the letter grade "F" so that it now only goes down to 50 (50-59 instead of 0-59), in Rockwood's middle schools.
The communications explain that a group of teachers and administrators analyzed student achievement data last year and decided to make changes to identify student "mindsets and behaviors" required for success.
OTHER CHANGES INCLUDED, SORT OF
The rest of the wording includes justification for making their changes, such as: grades should be reflective of what a student knows, practice should be "penalty free," homework generally shouldn't be included in the grade, late work should have a behavior intervention, and students should have the opportunity to learn more and "reassess."
Translation from teachers:
*Homework doesn't count for a grade, except in rare circumstances.
*No points off for late work. Instead, we'll talk about it in Aclab (study hall).
*"Reassess" means students get to retake tests.
LEFT OUT
Not included at all: 50% is the lowest grade possible because Rockwood changed the points range for the letter grade "F" so that it now only goes down to 50 (50-59 instead of 0-59), in Rockwood's middle schools.
In short, Rockwood made 50 the new zero.
TEACHER REACTION
This teacher reacted to the fact that the communication also doesn't mention specifics on what the data showed or what research they used:
"So, still not any transparency about the grading practices with parents. This is exactly what us teachers said would happen. If they have a new philosophy from research done, why can't they share the source of this philosophy and research for parents to observe and make conclusions from?" --Rockwood middle school teacher.
TRANSPARENT, AT FIRST
To their credit, Rockwood principals have been picking up the district's slack and explaining the changes to parents who ask.
To their credit, Rockwood principals have been picking up the district's slack and explaining the changes to parents who ask.
Those who asked, noticed their kids' missing assignments appeared to get half the answers right, even though they were never turned in.
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| This 8th grader didn't do the assignment. He got 4 out of 8 right, anyway. Because no points can be taken off on late work, he can still turn it in and potentially get a higher score. |
(We should clarify, the 50% minimum is not just for missing assignments. NO assignment or test will get a grade lower than 50%.)
TRANSPARENCY GONE
Parents say they appreciate that the principals took the time to privately explain 50% was the new minimum grade, and that the grading changes were due to a "new policy." (Rockwood Policy 6450.)
But, leaving the 50% minimum grade rule, and new policy, out of their official communication, is a stark contrast from how they worded things before.
WHAT CHANGED?
It's not clear why they left the 50% minimum grade out of their official communication.
But, we think we know why they stopped telling parents that the changes were due to Policy 6450.
It's not clear why they left the 50% minimum grade out of their official communication.
But, we think we know why they stopped telling parents that the changes were due to Policy 6450.
If principals kept talking about 6450, it would draw more attention to the fact that administrators slipped 6450 past Rockwood's elected officials.
CONNECTION TO 6450
As we previously reported, 6450 is the policy district administrators updated this summer to give themselves permission to implement the 50% minimum grade rule and the other grading changes.
In our last report, we exposed that the 50% rule wasn't actually written in policy 6450, that administrators quietly left the grading changes out of the documents they submitted to Rockwood's Board of Education (BOE), and that they got the BOE to approve the policy, apparently without telling the BOE what they were doing.
(The BOE is Rockwood's elected Board of Education, also known as the school board. There are 7 board members, called directors.)
CONNECTION TO 6450
As we previously reported, 6450 is the policy district administrators updated this summer to give themselves permission to implement the 50% minimum grade rule and the other grading changes.
In our last report, we exposed that the 50% rule wasn't actually written in policy 6450, that administrators quietly left the grading changes out of the documents they submitted to Rockwood's Board of Education (BOE), and that they got the BOE to approve the policy, apparently without telling the BOE what they were doing.
(The BOE is Rockwood's elected Board of Education, also known as the school board. There are 7 board members, called directors.)
Blaming the BOE-approved policy for the changes made it sound like administrators were just following BOE instructions. But administrators were the ones who actually made the grading changes.
Dr. Shelley Willott, Rockwood's Assistant Superintendent of Learning & Support Services, is the one who left the grading changes out of the BOE documents.
We asked Dr. Willott why parents were being told the grading changes were due to policy 6450, when the changes aren't actually in 6450.
PRINCIPALS HUNG OUT TO DRY
We asked Dr. Willott why parents were being told the grading changes were due to policy 6450, when the changes aren't actually in 6450.
PRINCIPALS HUNG OUT TO DRY
Her answer:
Note: We added the underlining.
Willott reminded us that a group of administrators and teachers decided on the grading changes; not just one person.
"...no one is being instructed to say the decision is due to a policy change."--Dr. Shelley Willott
Next, we asked if she meant that principals, who said the changes were due to the policy, acted on their own. She didn't answer.
IT CAME FROM SOMEWHERE
Policy 6450 was part of the official explanation for the changes at some point. It's written on the slides that Rockwood used to explain the grading changes to teachers in August.
You can see 6450 underlined below, on two different slides: "Grading practices from 6450" and "Implement...grading practices per regulation 6450..."
Next, we asked if she meant that principals, who said the changes were due to the policy, acted on their own. She didn't answer.
IT CAME FROM SOMEWHERE
Policy 6450 was part of the official explanation for the changes at some point. It's written on the slides that Rockwood used to explain the grading changes to teachers in August.
You can see 6450 underlined below, on two different slides: "Grading practices from 6450" and "Implement...grading practices per regulation 6450..."
Note: We added the underlining.
WILLOTT INVOLVEMENT
As we previously reported, Dr. Willott is central to these grading changes at every step.
As we previously reported, Dr. Willott is central to these grading changes at every step.
Willott says she was in the group that came up with them, she's on the Superintendent's Cabinet, which wrote the regulation (rules) for the grading changes, and, Willott is also the one who submitted the documents to the BOE without the grading changes written in them (she said she didn't have to put them in there).
TO GIVE HOPE
Willott says the point of the 50% minimum grade rule is to give hope to struggling students. A zero, mathematically, she says, can be too difficult to recover from, for their overall grade. Not giving any zeros anymore, gives them a chance to recover their grades.
Willott says the point of the 50% minimum grade rule is to give hope to struggling students. A zero, mathematically, she says, can be too difficult to recover from, for their overall grade. Not giving any zeros anymore, gives them a chance to recover their grades.
ACTUALLY, ALL STUDENTS
But, the 50% minimum grade is for ALL students, in all six middle schools. Not just students identified as struggling.
But, the 50% minimum grade is for ALL students, in all six middle schools. Not just students identified as struggling.
A 50% that was not earned will add extra points that, averaged in, could make the difference between a higher or lower letter grade on report cards.
The 50% minimum grade rule is not just giving hope, parents say; it's rewarding work that was done poorly or never done at all.
GRADE INFLATION: HOW A "C" BECOMES A "B"
Here's a hypothetical scenario to illustrate the potential effect of Rockwood's new 50% minimum grade rule:
20 assignments, of equal value in the overall grade, worth 10 points each. The total points possible is 200.
Let's say, a student's scores always hover on the low end of an A. For simplicity, say he earns 90% on every assignment he turns in.
But, he also *doesn't do* 3 of the assignments.
TRADITIONAL GRADING
Under the old way Rockwood calculated grades, those 3 missing assignments got zeros. Averaged in, the 90 drops to a 76. The "A" drops to a "C."
NEW ROCKWOOD RULE
Under the new grading system, the three missing assignments each get a 50%, for a total of 15 free points. Averaged in, the 90 only drops to an 84. The "A" only drops to a "B."
The "C" he would've had becomes a "B" with Rockwood's new grading rule.
The math details are in the graphic below.
Educators around the country, who support this, use a grade inflation example similar to the one above, with this message: A student getting all As shouldn't get a C just because he didn't do some of the work. The "C" isn't reflective of what the student "knows."
PARENT QUESTIONS: WHAT ABOUT G.P.A AWARDS?
Letter grades effect grade point averages and students are awarded for them.
An "A" is a 4.0.
A "B" is a 3.0.
A "C" is a 2.0.
A "D" is a 1.0.
An "F" is 0 on the grade point average scale.
Will kids be honored for grades they didn't earn? What about qualifying for the Junior National Honor Society? Or, other activities?
MOVING UP TO 7TH GRADE OR 8TH GRADE?
What about kids passing classes?
BOE COULD HAVE ASKED
Rockwood's BOE could have asked these questions before they voted to approve Policy 6450, which ultimately led to these changes.
But, it may have looked like they didn't need to.
DISTRACTION?
The records Dr. Willott submitted to the BOE made it look like the only change that will come from the policy update relates to final exams.
*Principal communication in its entirety
*2022 standardized MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) scores for Rockwood middle schoolers
*Information included in our previous report:
August communication mentioned the 50% grade as a temporary placeholder for missing assignments, not a final grade.
Parents who knew about the 50% minimum grade were either on committees or attended a presentation.
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PRINCIPAL COMMUNICATION:
2022 STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES FROM MISSOURI ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
GRADE INFLATION: HOW A "C" BECOMES A "B"
Here's a hypothetical scenario to illustrate the potential effect of Rockwood's new 50% minimum grade rule:
20 assignments, of equal value in the overall grade, worth 10 points each. The total points possible is 200.
Let's say, a student's scores always hover on the low end of an A. For simplicity, say he earns 90% on every assignment he turns in.
But, he also *doesn't do* 3 of the assignments.
TRADITIONAL GRADING
Under the old way Rockwood calculated grades, those 3 missing assignments got zeros. Averaged in, the 90 drops to a 76. The "A" drops to a "C."
NEW ROCKWOOD RULE
Under the new grading system, the three missing assignments each get a 50%, for a total of 15 free points. Averaged in, the 90 only drops to an 84. The "A" only drops to a "B."
The "C" he would've had becomes a "B" with Rockwood's new grading rule.
The math details are in the graphic below.
Educators around the country, who support this, use a grade inflation example similar to the one above, with this message: A student getting all As shouldn't get a C just because he didn't do some of the work. The "C" isn't reflective of what the student "knows."
PARENT QUESTIONS: WHAT ABOUT G.P.A AWARDS?
Letter grades effect grade point averages and students are awarded for them.
An "A" is a 4.0.
A "B" is a 3.0.
A "C" is a 2.0.
A "D" is a 1.0.
An "F" is 0 on the grade point average scale.
Will kids be honored for grades they didn't earn? What about qualifying for the Junior National Honor Society? Or, other activities?
MOVING UP TO 7TH GRADE OR 8TH GRADE?
What about kids passing classes?
Rockwood Regulation for Policy 2521 says middle school students have to pass at least 4 classes (3 of which are LA, math, science, and/or social studies) in order to move up to 7th or 8th grade.
Regulation 2521 does not spell out what passing means. Before this year's grading changes, it seemed simple: A "D." 60% or above.
Now, students might get 60%, only because their grade was inflated.
As a Rockwood middle school dad said, "Isn't this just a way to pass kids to the next grade? I mean, it's making it easier to pass the class."
Now, students might get 60%, only because their grade was inflated.
As a Rockwood middle school dad said, "Isn't this just a way to pass kids to the next grade? I mean, it's making it easier to pass the class."
Parents tell us districtwide communication is needed, with "frequently asked questions" and answers.
Rockwood's BOE could have asked these questions before they voted to approve Policy 6450, which ultimately led to these changes.
But, it may have looked like they didn't need to.
DISTRACTION?
The records Dr. Willott submitted to the BOE made it look like the only change that will come from the policy update relates to final exams.
You can see in red that they rolled the final exam policy into 6450.
You can also see in red: "multiple methods of assessment."
A change that's been brought to the BOE before centered on allowing both final projects and final exams. Multiple methods of assessment.
HISTORY COMES FULL CIRCLE
The last time the final exam issue was brought before the BOE was 4 years ago. The person who brought it to them was...Dr. Shelley Willott.
IRONIC TWIST
Ironically, at that September 5, 2019 meeting, when Dr. Willott answered questions from the BOE, she promised a great communication plan so parents would know what was going on.
Willott:
"Yeah, we'll have a great communication plan for that and explain to everybody what we're doing and why we're making those changes."
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| This document was submitted in the June 22, 2023 BOE agenda. It's the wording changes for the 6450 update, and is called "revised redline." |
A change that's been brought to the BOE before centered on allowing both final projects and final exams. Multiple methods of assessment.
HISTORY COMES FULL CIRCLE
The last time the final exam issue was brought before the BOE was 4 years ago. The person who brought it to them was...Dr. Shelley Willott.
IRONIC TWIST
Ironically, at that September 5, 2019 meeting, when Dr. Willott answered questions from the BOE, she promised a great communication plan so parents would know what was going on.
Willott:
"Yeah, we'll have a great communication plan for that and explain to everybody what we're doing and why we're making those changes."
You can hear the conversation at the 40:32 mark in this recorded video of the meeting.
Parent teacher conferences are underway right now in Rockwood. Parents are reporting awkward conversations and apologetic teachers.
As teachers have been telling us for weeks now, the lack of communication ultimately puts everything on them:
"We TOLD them that they needed to do a big P-R push to explain to parents these changes because people will be irate and need to understand why this is the case. But, once again, it falls on us teachers to handle it, which is b-s, because it's completely out of our hands."
DOCUMENTS AND ADDITIONAL DETAILS BELOW: |
| Screenshot from recorded video of Sept. 5, 2019 BOE meeting. Dr. Willott is explaining changes and answering BOE questions. She did not attend the meeting this summer to answer questions when the BOE approved the update to 6450. |
As teachers have been telling us for weeks now, the lack of communication ultimately puts everything on them:
"We TOLD them that they needed to do a big P-R push to explain to parents these changes because people will be irate and need to understand why this is the case. But, once again, it falls on us teachers to handle it, which is b-s, because it's completely out of our hands."
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*Principal communication in its entirety
*2022 standardized MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) scores for Rockwood middle schoolers
*Information included in our previous report:
August communication mentioned the 50% grade as a temporary placeholder for missing assignments, not a final grade.
Parents who knew about the 50% minimum grade were either on committees or attended a presentation.
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PRINCIPAL COMMUNICATION:
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| Communication from the principal at Crestview Middle school, as seen on Parent Square. It has the same wording that was shown to us from other middle schools. Pic 1 |
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2022 STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES FROM MISSOURI ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
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| Data Source: MO Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education Note: Only 8th graders take Science MAP tests MAP is Missouri Assessment Program. |