The Gorham School District started working towards a standards-based system of learning over eight years ago. Gorham High School (GHS) is well into its second year with the proficiency-based grading system. The change from a 1-100 based system to the new standards-based two years ago is based off of the proficiency-based diploma law.
In Maine, the current diploma law allows districts, like Gorham, to choose to issue proficiency-based diplomas or use other graduation standards. Heather Perry, Superintendent of Gorham Schools, spoke about the recent grading change in the high school.
“The elementary and middle schools had done work in the past but not the high school. We had a clear vision of what we wanted to create and how to move forward,” said Perry.
The high school has a compound credit/standards-based diploma. The standards are outlined for each course offered at GHS. Students who earn passing scores in their classes are able to demonstrate they have met the standards and receive credit. Students must accumulate a total of 22 credits in order to graduate with a GHS diploma.
“Each student is unique and learns in different ways at different rates,” said Perry. “Each student is different and we believe that and take action on that. There are clear outcomes for every student and how every student can get there.”
However, the new system is not without worries. This past December, Laura Bolduc, a junior at GHS, started a petition to reform the grading system because she believed many students dislike the system.
“A huge problem with the grading system is the conversions. A 3.0 is proficient but it only converts to an 87, which is a B and not enough for high honors,” said Bolduc. “If a student receives a 3.0 they are told they have met all the standards. This is confusing because if a student has done everything required of them shouldn’t they at least receive an A?”
This concern goes further when college is introduced. Bolduc believes students are worried about how they will compare to students across the country when meeting the standard is an 87; six points from an A.
Perry, however, feels differently. “I do not believe we are disadvantaging the students. We have a strong 1-4 scale,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what scale you utilize; colleges and universities have pretty much seen everything out there. This system sets students up for success, allowing them to demonstrate clearly what they know using our transcript and profile.”
Brian Jandreau, principal at GHS, said the proficiency-based grading system is used “to provide more consistency from course-to-course in terms of what students are expected to know and how they are assessed.”
Another student body concern at GHS, according to Bolduc, is that some teachers at GHS appear uncomfortable with proficiency-based grading and interpret the 1-4 system differently than other teachers, causing confusion among students.
Students feels that in order to get a 4.0 they most often will have to complete extra credit given by a teacher. However, Perry says this is in fact not how students can earn a 4.0.
“Students must demonstrate knowledge above and beyond the proficient score. Doing more of the same work would not allow a student to achieve a 4.0,” said Perry.
“In a 100-point scale, the difference between a 95 and 100 is just the number of questions a student got right. The difference between a 3.0 and a 4.0 in proficency-based grading is deeper learning on a higher level. A 3.0 is a baseline but that is what most students should get,” said Perry.
Jandreau stated that while some students may feel that the new standards-based grading system makes it harder to fail but even harder to succeed, statistics show that over the past six years at GHS the average GPA has gone up a whole point and the number of A’s has gone up significantly.
“In 2012/2013, 20 percent of GHS students had an A while 49 percent had a B. In 2017/2018, 26% of students had an A, while the number of students with a B had decreased to 48 percent,” said Jandreau. “Some students were concerned that their grades were going down. The data shows the opposite.”
When Gorham began to move scales to align to standards-based practices, students who had been able to get a 100 previously may have found it more difficult to get a 4.0 (which is Gorham’s 100 now) because teachers started asking students to demonstrate specific skills, not just do more of the same work that others did for a B.
Both Perry and Jandreau point to the PBL grading system as connecting with GHS’s mission and vision, which goes to the core beliefs about learning. However, as noted previously, many students disagree with the grading system.
“I started the petition because I was hearing complaints from many of my classmates that the grading system brought down their grades and made it harder to succeed in school,” said Bolduc. “I wanted to make sure that our administration knew just how many of my classmates, including myself, were still unhappy with the grading system and I figured a petition was the best way to do so.”
Although her petition ended after two days with over 250 signatures, the message stuck. Students met with both Perry and Jandreau during a Friday auxilium period to discuss how to better the system.
“The feedback from students about what is happening on a day-to-day basis is helping us,” said Jandreau. “Voices are reaching ours and are being heard; it does nothing but improve the system.”
In addition to listening to student feedback, Perry stated that both she and Jandreau “are very interested in listening to any concerned parents as well. I would encourage parents to reach out to set up a time to meet with either of us (or both) so that we can hear their concerns, internalize them, ask questions to better understand them, and then use that information to help us plan future improvements to our learning systems here in Gorham.”