But new data suggests that鈥檚 changing. 

In a recent of 20,000 parents, respondents said they trust communication from their children鈥檚 teachers more than any other source of information to judge whether their kids are on track. That was the case regardless of whether parents thought their children performed on grade level. 

The finding came as a surprise to Bibb Hubbard, president of Learning Heroes, a nonprofit that helps parents understand student achievement data. In , including surveys her own organization has conducted since , parents have listed grades as the primary indicator of student performance. 

鈥淔or the first time, grades are not the number one factor,鈥� she said. 鈥淭eachers really are on the front lines in terms of communicating to families about where their kids are.鈥�

As one who urges schools to level with families about student progress, Hubbard zeroed in on that point among the trove of data that 50CAN, a national education advocacy organization, released in October. 

One reason for the shift, she said, is the falling importance of grades as a dependable measure of learning. Long before COVID, and news reports pointed to examples of : While grade-point averages have steadily increased, objective measures of performance like remained flat. States and districts further relaxed grading standards during the pandemic, and parents took notice. The growth of online communication apps that allow teachers to update parents throughout the year on children鈥檚 progress have also lessened report cards鈥� influence, Hubbard said.

鈥淛ust putting the grade in the portal is not going to be sufficient for any parent right now,鈥� she added. 鈥淭hey want that connection. They want that relationship.鈥�

At Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri, Algebra teacher Cicely Woodard said she tries to be as specific as possible when grading assignments by labeling tests with the skills students are learning 鈥� like exponents 鈥� so parents don鈥檛 have to guess. But she also leans on parents to understand why students might be struggling.

鈥淚鈥檒l say, 鈥楾his is what I’m observing.鈥� Then I’ll be quiet and listen,鈥� she said 鈥淚 can learn so much from parents who know their children really well.鈥�

Almost 30% of parents in the 50CAN survey said they rely on that type of communication from teachers more than any other source of information. Report card grades were second, with 20%. 

Parents who believe their children are performing below grade level value that interaction with teachers even more than those who think their kids are at or above grade level, the data shows 鈥� 36 to 28%. During the 2023-24 school year, parents who thought their children weren’t meeting expectations were more likely than others to communicate with teachers outside of parent-teacher conferences, talk to their school鈥檚 principal and consult with their child鈥檚 guidance counselor.

They also want their kids to get additional instruction. If they had the time or money, parents who think their children are below grade level would choose tutoring over organized sports and art, dance or music lessons, the survey showed. But a higher percentage of those parents also said tutoring was too expensive or wasn鈥檛 available in their community.

鈥淭hey are engaged. They care about their kids, and they are not getting the support that they necessarily need,鈥� Hubbard said.

Melony Watson, a mom of six in Fort Worth, Texas, said she鈥檚 barely looked at report cards in two years. She felt misled when one of her daughters kept making the honor roll even though she couldn鈥檛 read. 

鈥淚’m a proud parent, sitting there clapping and jumping up and down because my baby’s walking across the stage, getting certificate after certificate,鈥� Watson said. But by third grade, she told her daughter鈥檚 teacher that she saw signs of a learning disability. Her daughter wrote letters and numbers backwards and out of order. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e like, 鈥楴o, no, she鈥檚 just a COVID baby. She鈥檚 going to be a little behind.鈥� 鈥�

Watson ultimately quit her job as a substitute teacher and homeschooled her daughter for a year before enrolling her in a different school. Now, with her children in third through 12th grade, she is in frequent contact with their teachers, especially in eighth grade algebra and ninth grade social studies. 

鈥淚 get weekly updates to know what test my child has failed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have made myself known. If those teachers think that you don’t care, they’re not going to go the extra mile.鈥�

鈥楾ipping point鈥�

Parents aren鈥檛 the only ones who think grades provide a less-reliable predictor of success than standardized tests. Several universities, mostly Ivy league institutions, have reinstated for admissions after dropping them during the pandemic. 

鈥淚 do think that it is possible that we are nearing a tipping point with regard to grade inflation,鈥� said Adam Tyner, who wrote about the issue in a for the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he is national research director. 鈥淢aybe parents are also starting to see teacher-assigned grades as a less valuable signal.鈥�

To Hubbard, the results suggest that teachers need better training on discussing test scores with parents. Surveys of teachers conducted by show educators often fear either that parents won鈥檛 believe their children are behind or that administrators will overrule their grading decisions.

鈥淚t needs to be an expectation for teachers to have ongoing communications with families 鈥� which takes time, training and support,鈥� she said. 鈥淥therwise, families will continue to be sidelined in being able to most effectively support their children’s learning and development.鈥�

Allegations of grade fixing at an Anderson County high school have taken down a popular high school principal, the head football coach, two teachers and three counselors.

Meanwhile, local education leaders have declined to take questions about how 1,500 grades were allegedly altered during the last school year at Clinton High, a school with 1,200 students located northwest of Knoxville.

At a packed school board meeting last week, parents and other community members showed up prepared to address the board about the growing scandal, but never got the chance.

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The meeting was abruptly adjourned less than 15 minutes after it began, with no opportunity for public comment 鈥� a potential violation of the state鈥檚 open meeting law.

鈥淭he Clinton community deserves an investigation and review that is open and transparent,鈥� said Worrick Robinson IV, an attorney representing former Clinton High School Principal Daniel Jenkins.

Jenkins resigned in May after being accused of directing instructors to change grades 鈥� allegations he has since denied.

The grade-fixing scandal in Anderson County centers on so-called credit recovery 鈥� an option to give struggling students a chance to retake coursework, stay in school and graduate on time.

The online programs, purchased by county school boards, have been the subject of controversy in recent years for their lack of oversight by state education officials and the ease with which grades can be manipulated, according to Carolyn Heinrich, a professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt University.

The programs allow students to retake coursework, then take multiple tests that assess their mastery of a course, module by module.

But the module grades can be easily changed by instructors who are able to manually override grades or put students in 鈥渢est only鈥� mode allowing them to skip computer instruction and go straight to taking tests.

Heinrich said her research, which focused on the Edgenuity credit recovery program that was also used by Anderson County, has shown that kids working in test-only mode can easily cheat, relying on Google for answers.

That is, in part, what happened at Clinton High, according to Rachel Jones, a teacher who was administering the credit recovery program and the source of many of the accusations implicating other staff members.

Jones, who has since been fired, told school officials she was responsible for 485 score changes 鈥渕any of which were skipped questions until a desired student grade was achieved,鈥� according to a 鈥渃harges of dismissal鈥� document obtained by the Lookout.

She also said students cheated while using the test-taking software by looking up answers on their phones.

Jones, who did not respond to the Lookout鈥檚 request for comment, told county education officials she changed grades at the request of Jenkins, the school principal, and school counselors, the dismissal document said.

Jones also implicated Darrel Keith, who served as Clinton High鈥檚 football coach for four years until his contract wasn鈥檛 renewed last month amid Jones鈥� allegations.

Jones said the coach told her to 鈥渞eplace the grades鈥� of a football player in danger of failing.

Like Jenkins, Keith has denied wrongdoing.

鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 unfortunate when allegations unproven can ruin a person鈥檚 image,鈥� Keith said via text message. Keith called the allegations against him 鈥渉earsay鈥� and said he did not have the ability to change any student鈥檚 grades.

A second Clinton teacher administering the credit recovery program admitted to changing 1,009 grades in a four-month period, according to the disciplinary documents.

The instructor, Clay Turpin, also blamed Jenkins and other school counselors.

鈥淲hile he claimed he was never instructed鈥o change student scores, Turpin did again recall Dan Jenkins making it clear he wanted credit recovery students鈥� grades to be above a 60 so they could get out of courses/school.鈥�

Turpin said he often sat students down on the credit recovery software in 鈥渢est only mode鈥� which allowed them to skip lengthy online instruction then Google answers to their tests and quizzes.

One student, for example, completed an entire geometry course in one hour and 46 minutes, according to the disciplinary documents.

Turpin could not be reached for comment.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on and .

One day he was chatting with an 8th-grade student, who he described as a 鈥渟uperstar,鈥� and asked if she had studied for that day鈥檚 exam. He was shocked to hear she hadn鈥檛.

鈥淲ell Mr. Guskey,鈥� he remembers her saying, a quizzical look on her face, 鈥淚 worked it out. I only need a 50.2 to get an A [in the class]. I don鈥檛 need to study for a 50.2.鈥�

This was a moment of realization for him. 鈥淭his 8th grader had worked it out to the tenth decimal place what she needed to do to get an A in my class,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd she was surprised I didn鈥檛 get it. And I thought, 鈥榃ow. What have I done?鈥欌�� 

For this student 鈥� and so many others 鈥� school was not about learning. It was about getting a good grade. And with flawed traditional grading systems, those two outcomes didn鈥檛 always coincide.

Every time Guskey tells this story to other teachers, he said they shake their heads and share similar anecdotes of their own. Other experts in the field echo these sentiments, noting that schools have spent far too long grading students based on whether or not they turned in a pile of work or showed up to class on time, rather than focusing on if a student has learned academic content. This can ultimately lead to final grades that inaccurately reflect and communicate what kids actually know. 

Today, as schools combat post-pandemic learning gaps, it鈥檚 become even clearer that traditional grades are not precise communicators of learning. In some cases, this leads parents to believe their kids are performing at grade level, when in reality they鈥檙e falling behind. 

As educators push for more clarity and transparency, a number of schools and districts are turning to what’s known as standards-based grading, a system and communication tool that separates academic mastery from behavioral factors. When done correctly, it should more accurately reflect what students know and correct for both inflating 鈥� and deflating 鈥� grades. 

But a misunderstanding of standards-based grading’s true principles, a lack of proper training for educators and a rush to quickly adopt a complex new system often leads to messy implementation, various experts told 蜜桃影视. And, they warn, districts looking for support are turning to grading consultants, a number of whom aren鈥檛 qualified in the field.

鈥淪o many districts are getting into this and they鈥檙e failing miserably,鈥� said Guskey, the grading and assessment expert and professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky College of Education. 鈥淪chools are jumping into this without a clear notion of what they鈥檙e doing and what the prerequisites are to being standards based,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎nd then when problems arise, they have no recourse except to abandon [it] completely.鈥�

As schools look for an effective fix to learning gaps, 鈥渟tandards-based grading is one that seems like it can be a quickly adopted effort. But it could backfire and does backfire very easily,鈥� said Laura Link, associate professor of teaching and leadership at the University of North Dakota.

In a she and Guskey wrote, 鈥渁lthough many schools today are initiating SBG reforms, there鈥檚 little consensus on what 鈥榮tandards-based grading鈥� actually means. As a result, SBG implementation is widely inconsistent.鈥� This creates uncertainty, confusion, frustration 鈥� and resistance, which can ultimately lead to it being tossed aside, the authors said.

The many meanings of a 鈥淐鈥�

Standards-based grading is not new. While it鈥檚 challenging to pin down just how many schools are currently using it, post-pandemic interest in a system that鈥檚 seen as more accurate and equitable appears to be growing. 

Link is now working with the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania school district on implementation. It can also be found in at least one school district in the San Francisco Bay Area and is particularly prevalent in schools in Wyoming, New Hampshire, Maine and Wisconsin, with more cropping up in Connecticut, New Mexico, and Oregon, in November.

Another expert, Cathy Vatterott, who wrote Rethinking Grading: Meaningful Assessment for Standards-Based Learning and is professor emeritus of education at the University of Missouri鈥揝t. Louis, said: 鈥淎fter we got through COVID, all of a sudden I started getting offers to come and speak to people about standards-based grading.鈥� 

Regardless of what model teachers practice, they typically grade using three different criteria: what academic skills students have learned and are able to do, such as solving for 鈥渪鈥� in an algebraic equation; what behaviors they bring that enable learning, such as attendance and turning in work on time; and how much they鈥檝e grown and improved.

In traditional models, teachers combine these three, muddling them together and assigning a single mark for an assignment 鈥� often a letter grade or a percentage. At the end of a semester, these assignment scores get averaged into a final grade that goes onto a transcript or report card. Proponents of standards-based grading argue that this presents an unclear and inaccurate picture to parents, students and colleges. 

鈥淚t makes the grade impossible to interpret,鈥� according to Guskey. For example, a 鈥淐鈥� on a paper could mean the student really only understood the material at a 鈥淐鈥� level or it could mean they turned in an excellent paper but two weeks late. Further adding to the confusion: what goes into a grade is inconsistent from teacher to teacher and school to school.

Traditional grading not only presents accuracy concerns but also equity ones, according to Matt Townsley, assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Northern Iowa. 鈥淔or example, if we award points for assignments that are completed on a daily basis 鈥� called homework 鈥� outside of class, you can imagine a scenario where some families are more privileged in their ability to do it,鈥� he said. 

Some students have access to a quiet place to work, tutors, parents who can help them with assignments, and other key resources, while others work after-school jobs or take care of younger siblings. When teachers grade homework, experts like Townsley argue, they are grading for these factors, rather than what students have actually learned. 

To combat this, standards-based grading does it differently. Rather than lumping together academic, behavioral and improvement grades, it separates them and reports them out individually in what Link calls a 鈥渄ashboard of information.鈥� 

Too often, she said, consultants and other self-proclaimed experts, who are not researchers, will push to throw away behavioral grades altogether. But she warned 鈥渢hat becomes problematic very, very quickly. We shouldn’t be using our gradebooks to punish and control. But those factors 鈥� those behavioral factors 鈥� are academic enablers, and we know that to be true as well.鈥�

Reporting it out separately makes students recognize that these other components still count and, in some ways, it makes them each count more because they can no longer be disguised by other factors, like extra credit, according to Guskey.

It鈥檚 important for schools to decide upfront what behaviors they want to prioritize 鈥� whether that鈥檚 attendance, work ethic, responsibility鈥� and then build a guide on how teachers will score for them. 鈥淏y giving these kinds of dashboards of information, it helps colleges, trade schools, etc. have a deeper understanding of what kind of students they鈥檙e accepting into the programs and what kind of support they will need in college,鈥� Link said. 

The academic grades should be based on grade-level standards and learning objectives, like the ability to find strong evidence to support a claim if a student is writing a paper or answering a test question.

A second key criteria is moving away from handing out percentage grades based on 100 to using a much smaller measurement scale, like 0 to 4. On each standard, students could also be graded as “exceeding,”, “meeting,” “almost” or “not yet.” Guskey noted that while this all may sound novel and unusual, other countries around the world, including Canada, have been using these practices for decades.

A third component 鈥� providing students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding and mastery of a standard 鈥� is often where the greatest controversy crops up and things are most likely to go awry. Some educators argue that students should receive limitless opportunities to redo specific assignments. Researchers such as Link, though, argue that while students need multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding, that does not necessarily mean redoing the same assignment. 

鈥淭his is where a lot of non-academic proponents encourage that standards-based grading means you give as many retakes as it takes for mastery. Not true. Not true. That鈥檚 an assessment issue. That鈥檚 not a grading issue.鈥�

So, while a second chance at one assignment is perhaps the fair thing to do, it is not inherent to the ethos of standards-based grading. She emphasized that if schools do implement retake policies, the process needs to be purposeful: If a student doesn鈥檛 get it the first time, they need to get corrective feedback and instruction. But 鈥渋f they don鈥檛 get it on the second chance, you鈥檙e going to record their grade and move on,鈥� she said. 

There is no empirical evidence supporting the benefits of endless retakes and, she added, such practices can be a time-consuming and unrealistic ask of teachers. 

Because many of the people who write about and consult on testing don鈥檛 fully understand what鈥檚 behind assessing students more than once, Guskey said, their recommendations on how best to do it are often untested and can鈥檛 be supported in practice. Their inconsistent advice, he said, can lead teachers and administrators to forsake efforts to reform grading. 

While it鈥檚 important to understand what standards-based grading is, it鈥檚 also essential to debunk what it鈥檚 not. At its core, experts say, it鈥檚 purely a communication tool. It doesn鈥檛 tell educators how to create assessments, build curriculum or manage behavior. It can make space for teachers to provide more individualized feedback and for students to move through the skills and knowledge they need to master at their own pace. But these things aren鈥檛 inherently a part of it. 

鈥淏asically everything is just to pass.鈥�

When Kenny Rodrequez became superintendent of the Grandview school district a decade ago, he knew the grading system needed to change. He was concerned that as it stood, the traditional grading model they relied on wasn鈥檛 communicating students鈥� progress to their parents accurately. Leaders in the district, located just outside of Kansas City, ultimately decided to shift to standards-based grading for kindergarten through 6th grade. 

Now, in his eighth year as superintendent and ninth year overseeing the transition, he feels good about what they鈥檝e accomplished. One key factor of the successful implementation, he said, was 鈥渘ot trying to do it all at once.鈥� It can be tempting to 鈥渏ust say, 鈥楲et’s bite the bullet and let’s just roll it all out at the same time,鈥欌�� he added. It was important, though, to fight this urge and instead find a balance that allowed for deliberate policy shifts that still didn鈥檛 take an inordinate amount of time to implement.

Another key factor: making sure there was strong teacher and parent buy-in. The first year in particular, staff was nervous to explain this new system to parents before they even fully understood it themselves. Rodrequez said they created talking points for teachers and gave them the resources they needed. 

In the future, the district plans to bring standards-based grading to 7th-12th grade classrooms, but he anticipates at the high school level this will be trickier. 鈥淥ur challenge 鈥� is nationally we still have a system that’s still pretty based upon our letter grades. And that system鈥檚 been around for so long and never was designed to do what we’re trying to get it to do right now.鈥� Demands for GPAs and class rankings, in particular, are incongruous with the standards-based model but often necessary for college applications.

These very challenges have played out in one New York City high school, according to parent Talia Matz. When her stepson started 9th grade at Future High School in Manhattan, the school had orientation sessions to explain to parents how their standards-based grading system works. Still, she and her husband were skeptical. And over the past three years, they鈥檝e only become more concerned, she told 蜜桃影视. 

Some of the major assignments that the school uses instead of statewide Regents exams 鈥渁re a bit of a joke,鈥� she said, and students are not held accountable. 鈥淏asically everything is just to pass. It doesn’t matter how well you do,鈥� she said, adding, 鈥渋t doesn’t seem like there’s any love of learning. It’s just kind of to get it done.鈥� 

Contrary to best practices, on his report card there are no separated out comments or grades about behaviors. All standards are scored on a 0-4 scale, and parents and students can see grades on an online platform called JumpRope. But, the school then converts this scale into a traditional percentage grade, which is ultimately sent to colleges 鈥� another big no-no, according to experts. (According to the , schools may choose from a number of grading scales, including A-F, but it appears that regardless of what they select, all grades are ultimately converted into percentages.)

Students have a number of opportunities to redo assignments and no clear consequences for late work, Matz said. Rather than getting grades on daily assignments, he gets a 鈥淲ork Habits/Independent Practice鈥� score, which his stepmom said never appears on a transcript. This, she said, provides no incentive to turn assignments in on time or get them right the first time.

School administrators did not respond to requests for comment. The school鈥檚 website contests this point: Their official policy states that the 鈥淲ork Habits/Independent Practice鈥� score becomes 10% of a student鈥檚 final grade. Never reporting the behavior grade or averaging it into a single final grade would both go against standards-based grading best practices. 

Matz fears all this lends itself to lowered standards, which will leave her son unprepared for college. In the fall, he鈥檒l enroll at SUNY Buffalo, 鈥渂ut we’re concerned because there’s going to be different expectations 鈥� You have to study on your own, you don’t necessarily get second or third chances.鈥�

A Republican state senator wants to give students at Arizona鈥檚 public universities a new way to challenge grades that they believe were handed down due to a professor鈥檚 political bias.

Sen. Anthony Kern, of Glendale, who has previously as 鈥渘ot a university guy,鈥� has taken aim this year at the Arizona Board of Regents and the three public universities that they govern for what he says is discrimination against conservative students and speakers.

The Board of Regents governs University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University.

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碍别谤苍鈥檚 would create a 鈥済rade challenge department鈥� within the Board of Regents at all three universities, which would 鈥渉ear challenges from public university students regarding grades received in any class or on any assignment if a student alleges a grade was awarded because of political bias.鈥�

The departments would be staffed by volunteers chosen by the Board of Regents.

If a challenge department concluded that political bias influenced a student鈥檚 grade, it could require the professor who awarded it to regrade the assignment or reevaluate the student鈥檚 grade for the class in alignment with the department鈥檚 findings.

If a student believed that the department wrongly dismissed their grade challenge, the student could appeal the decision to ABOR, though the legislation doesn鈥檛 require that the regents actually consider any appeals.

鈥淎 lot of students that I met with at ASU, they do not feel that they can debate issues according to their politics or according to what they believe, because they鈥檙e afraid their grades are going to be lowered, and this is trying to help those,鈥� Kern said before voting in favor of the bill on Feb. 22.

The bill passed through the Senate that day by a vote of 16-12, with only Republicans voting in favor.

Kern acknowledged that ABOR already has its own process for students to challenge their grades, but said he criticized it as inadequate. He added that he doesn鈥檛 believe that the Board of Regents is necessary at all.

He said he believes the bill would make students 鈥渕ore comfortable speaking on issues that they should be able to speak on.鈥�

During a House Education Committee meeting on Tuesday, Thomas Adkins, a lobbyist for the Board of Regents, told lawmakers that the board opposed the measure for several reasons.

Echoing Kern, Adkins pointed out that the universities already have and academic grievance processes that allow students to contest their grades. The legislation would circumvent and undermine that process, he said.

Currently, the process starts with an informal conversation between the student and instructor, and can escalate to the dean and progress to a review by an academic committee.

Secondly, the bill would create what Adkins said is an unfunded burden on the regents to create and oversee the new departments at each campus, requiring them to open satellite offices there. He said that ABOR only has 40 employees and that taking on oversight of these departments would put a strain on them.

Last summer, Kern co-chaired a legislative committee at Arizona鈥檚 public universities. The committee was formed shortly after ASU administrator Ann Atkinson from the university for bringing controversial far-right speakers to the campus for an event.

The university denied Atkinson鈥檚 claims, saying that she was let go because the organization that sponsored her position pulled its funding. In an investigation that was ordered by Arizona lawmakers, ASU determined that claims of censorship of conservative ideas and the chilling of free speech .

The event for which Atkinson claimed she was fired wasn鈥檛 canceled, and far-right speakers like Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, and Dennis Prager, a conservative radio talk show host and writer, both spoke at the event.

Referencing students who spoke to the committee, Tucson Republican Rep. Rachel Jones told Adkins that conservative students on campus were 鈥渇eeling silenced.鈥�

鈥淪ome of these students are feeling the need to lie about their political beliefs so that they get good grades,鈥� she said.

Adkins said it wasn鈥檛 a stretch to say the Board of Regents shares some of her concerns, but that its members believe that disagreements over grades can be resolved by making some changes to the existing processes instead of completely replacing them.

The bill passed out of the House Education Committee by a vote of 4-3, along party lines. Next, it will head to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on and .