PAUSD is currently reformatting the district’s grading system, beginning a pilot program to transition toward an evidence-based approach for all classes. The program is set to roll out gradually over the coming years, in an attempt to make grades more accurately match students’ understanding.
According to Principal Dr. Wendy Stratton, the new evidence-based grading system will be based on that of Adlai Stevenson High School in Illinois, which focuses on students’ ability to improve skills over time. In the new four-point grading system, a student’s teacher determines a final course grade by reviewing the student’s assessments and considering any clear patterns of growth. Getting a score of four means that a student has exceeded mastery. Three is mastery, two is approaching mastery and one is having a fundamental understanding.
“It’s (about whether you can do) the skills to the level that we are asking,” Stratton said. “I think it’s a more transparent and straightforward system.”
The Gunn administration has formed an ad hoc committee with staff from various subjects to discuss the upcoming changes, which will occur over multiple years. According to Planning Team Lead Kathryn Catalano, Gunn will prioritize quality over speed and do everything possible to make the transition seamless. Catalano’s conservative projection is that, after a transition period, the final form will be launched in the next seven years. Specifics of the plan have yet to be discussed within the planning team.
For a smooth transition, Catalano says that support resources will be available for both teachers and students. Currently, multiple teachers are participating in a pilot program involving a few teachers from all departments to analyze the practicality of this new system.
“We’re encouraging teachers to jump into this with a teaching team rather than doing this by themselves because having a team anytime you’re trying to learn something new helps a lot,” she said.
According to Adlai Stevenson High School Principal Troy Gobble, the shift to evidence-based grading is necessary due to fundamental flaws in the status quo.
“There’s a problem with the way that we have graded for 100 years,” Gobble said in a video published by the school. “What we’ve done is forced students into a conversation that’s around collecting points. What we want to do is identify the essential learnings of the class — the fundamental standards that exist for the course.”
Catalano noted that the change at Gunn will place an emphasis on developing student autonomy and competence.
“It’s more of a philosophy shift,” Catalano said. “One of the big things with evidence-based grading and teaching is the focus on helping to develop student agency and spending time developing skills that are going to be meaningful and transcend just the high school experience. (It’s about) moving away from content retention and memorization and more towards actual skills applications.”
Computer science teacher Joshua Paley, who gave a TEDx talk in 2023 about the flaws of the current grading system, sees potential in the plan but also has some worries.
“I worry about class sizes being an issue because the teachers will have to get to know the students better, and it’s hard to do that with the class sizes as large as they are,” he said. “With that said, the concept is as promising as anything related to grades that I’ve seen in a long time … But, as long as the word ‘grades’ is involved, I’ll always be skeptical.”
Still, Catalano added that the adjustment will be a collaborative process.
“We don’t want anybody to jump into this without feeling ready to do it,” Catalano said. “(Administrators) want to make sure that we are supporting both teachers and students so that we have a transition that feel smooth and that everybody feels supported.”
