assessments now count as 70% of your grade!? That could be a problem for you if you struggle on tests…
The new grading policy was adopted at West Leyden High school in 2024 and students seem to have some opinions on it. They want to know why the school changed it and if it’ll ever be changed again. Before the new grading policy, students used to be graded on homework, participation, quizzes and tests. But now, in this 2024 school year, students will be graded on a 70-30 scale. Meaning formatives are 30% of your grade and summatives 70%. And students, the ones most affected by this, have some thoughts on it.
According to Annandale High School, their students and staff are also experiencing this policy first hand and think this change is helpful. “I think it really drives me to actually do my formations,” an anonymous sophomore said. “I’m actually getting forced to do the formations and they’ve helped me learn in order to get a good score on the summative.” Teachers have also welcomed this change with open arms. “I think it’s a good change. I’ve always felt that summatives should weigh more than formatives,” English teacher Stephanie Hanson said. “I think this gives more weight to the formatives so that students are less likely to just blow them off.” (Dinh, Jasmin, and Rossy Soto).
Though at leyden, Senior Valeria Rodriguez thinks this system doesn’t really help her at all. “My teachers would put a lot into the formative section so No matter how good you do on the formative side, when it comes to doing the summative your grade won’t change that drastically.” Valeria said. “I heard people complain and say how it wasn’t fair and that it doesn’t really benefit them at all.” At Leyden, many more people started taking formations more seriously now that it counts for more of your grade. Valeria says she prefers the old grading system because she claims that no matter how good she does in the formative section her grade is still gonna be bad if she doesn’t do good on summatives. She also claims it’s vice versa. “I think I prefer the old grading system mostly because no matter how good i do in the formative section, my grade is still gonna be bad if i don’t do good on the summatives.”
Before the new policy, leyden had a 50/30/20 system. This meant 50% were on tests, 30% were on formations and 20% was on homework.
Valeria adds onto her claim and includes that it’s not just her that’s feeling bad about this system, but other students. “I mostly hear complaints like how the administration is not really caring for their students like they dont feel it benefits them a lot.” leyden high school implemented this policy because they think it engages their students more to do their work.
according to the Leyden High School Assessment Framework, they claim, “At Leyden, assessment practices are centered on learning outcomes. Formative assessments should engage students in targeted behaviors, providing low-stakes and mistake-tolerant opportunities to practice skills, receive feedback, and reflect on their learning goals. Summative assessments should engage students in targeted behaviors, providing opportunities to demonstrate understanding, receive evaluation, and consider current skill levels”
they then go on to say what drove them to do this change, “Current research tells us that traditional assessment practices have created barriers to meaningful learning for many of our students; the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the widening gaps between assigning grades and purposeful assessment of and feedback around outcomes.” “Our goal is to link theory to practice, establishing a research-informed assessment framework, a common assessment vocabulary, and district-wide equitable and universal grading expectations while eliminating the points-based academic economy that has proven ineffective, inaccurate, and even inequitable.”
Leyden high school’s 70/30 grading policy which addresses summatives and formatives will continue to spark discussions among the students and teachers over its fairness and usefulness to the success of the students.
