East Haddam Parents Soon to Petition Grading System

Parents, lawmakers and activists throughout Connecticut have recently spoken out about The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Initiative that has been adopted in Connecticut. Some are in opposition, some are in support, and others are simply grappling to understand exactly what "Common Core" means. 

In East Haddam, some parents are concerned about the new standard based report card system that has accompanied the "Common Core" adoption in town. According to a recent article Patch posted, "Rather than a traditional letter grading system of A, B, C, D, the standard focusses on a number system of 1-4 that does not correlate with the traditional letter-based grading system."

Here's what some readers had to say in the comments section about the change:

"The SBRC is an improvement but flawed. On the positive, it separates academic behaviors from academic achievement. The problem is it needs an intepreter to understand until the final report card."

"The core curriculum is a state mandate this report card style is not part of the mandate...here are very few towns that use this report card in middle school. There are none in our region. If you ask the Connecticut State Board of Education they will tell you there is no research available on how many schools are using this, and will tell you that Standard based report cards are not part of the mandate. This report style has major problems in my opinion."

In response to an opinion piece concerning the report card system written by a reader, others commented:

"...Other states who adopted these report card criteria have since dropped them. Too subjective and much too confusing."

"As a group of concerned parents, we need to come up with a valid example of what we would like included in our children's report card. Presently, it is far too subjective and disorganized. There are approximately 67 categories on which to grade a student!"

Parents who are concerned about the new system plan to have their voices heard at an upcoming Board of Education meeting.  After obtaining over 200 signatures on a petition, parents plan to present both the petition and their apprehensions at a regularly scheduled Board of Ed meeting Tuesday, June 11.  

The meeting is set to begin at 7:00 PM at the Nathan Hale Ray High School. Parents that plan to attend and speak to the Board of Education will do so during “Audience of Citizens," which takes place at the end of their regular agenda.