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No harm, pass-fail or traditional: Some parents say they are confused by all of the different grading approaches this last term of school.
Parents are comparing how different school districts are handling this. But Ben Horsley with the Granite School District says no one should compare their home to another household.
“They are looking at it through their own lens,” he said. “Your neighbor might not have parental support or wifi or the digital means or ability to provide that type of at-home support that is necessary for distance learning,” he told KSL’s Dave and Dujanovic Show.
Alpine School District spokeswoman Kimberly Bird was also on the Dave and Dujanovic Show talking about their approach not to give any Fs this last term.
“We feel like this is a no harm approach where spring of 2020 looks different for academic grading,” she said.
In general among most districts, students can simply get a P for pass, which won’t affect their GPA.
Some are getting A-C grades and below that is a P or incomplete. Others say you can choose the letter grade or a P. And they say students who do need a letter grade for certain college scholarships can talk to their principal.
“We’ve got a lot of kids who are just intent on maintaining those high GPAs. But we will have a good majority that will say, ‘I need a P,’” said Bird.
“The Utah System of Higher Education universities are using a similar pass/fail system as well. This will not be unusual for Ps to show up on transcripts. And they will not impact a student’s GPA,” said Horsley.
In the Granite School District, a student who fails a class will need to make it up. But that differs for other districts.
Bird says teachers will assess learning through the summer and into fall to see what kind of learning gaps occurred.
See how Utah’s school districts are handling grading options here.