As students across Lafayette Parish settle in to the new school year, questions are coming up about the district’s Pupil Progression Plan.
The plan is a document the school district built to let the State know its policies and procedures. The plan is also tailored to the district’s specific needs and is updated yearly.
This week, many parents are attending open houses and learning about their childs’ classroom procedures. Some of those parents are worried about how the district is calculating grades and assessing students.
The Pupil Progression Plan outlines how students are graded and promoted. Students in kindergarten and first grade will not receive letter grades this year. Instead, the district is using “PIN” to track progress. “P” for proficient if you master the skill, “I” for in progress if you still need work and “N” for no evidence if you’re failing.
“It’s a checkpoint they assess daily to see where they are,” said Kathy Alosio, Director of Elementary Schools for the Lafayette Parish School System. “it could be a skill in kindergarten where they have to count from one to ten. If they can, they get the “P.” If they can only count to eight, they get an “I” for in progress. They have the year to master those standards though.”
As for students in 2nd through 12th grades, Aloisio said, “We’re not getting rid of letter grades. As students earn percentages, that percentage is changed into a letter grade.”
Aloisio said parents can still go online to see their child’s percentage grade. Those letter grades are later converted into quality points to calculate student grade point averages on a four point scale.
“All teachers want their children to be successful,” Aloisio said. “It shows you did your job teaching and they did their job learning.”
If a student fails a test, the Pupil Progression Plan allows students to “re-engage” and “re-assess.” That means, if a student gets an “F” on a test, he or she can re-test as many times as needed until they master the subject.
“After the student takes the test, from the day the teacher returns the test, the student has 5 days to set up a plan to re-engage…have remediation, re-teaching and time to re-assess,” Aloisio said. “They then have the opportunity to master the lesson that was taught.”
Students have all year to master the subject, but Aloisio said students and teachers should come up with a plan to master the subject as the grading period moves along. If they do not meet the standards by the last two weeks of school, Alosio said students can attend summer school.
“In summer school, they can go through further remediation and have an opportunity to earn another credit so they can be promoted to the next grade,” said Aloisio.
