A Community Conversation

Our 2021 Condition of Education Action Guide highlights the promising work of schools and communities that have come together to make education more equitable and inclusive. This conversation with school and community leaders get to the heart of this work. Watch below to learn about Chelsea Public Schools' new approach to family engagement, Framingham Public Schools' expansive community partnerships, and Springfield WORKS' two-generation approach to building career pathways.

SPEAKERS

Dr. Almudena Abeyta
Superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools

Dr. Pam Eddinger
President of Bunker Hill Community College

Anne Kandilis
Director of Springfield WORKS

Tiffany Lillie
Director, Community Resource Development Office, Framingham Public Schools.

Blog

Rethinking Grading

March 28, 2024

Schools have assessed student learning and growth with essentially the same grading system for more than a century. Since this system was created, the field has learned so much more about the way students learn, the systemic inequities embedded in the design of traditional grading and assessment, and what type of learning leads to success in life. Grading should be aligned with what we know about the learning process, child and adolescent development, and the demands of career, college, and community life. But traditional grading is so deeply ingrained in our culture, that making changes to this system can seem like an insurmountable task. That’s why we partnered with DESE and reDesign to support five unique high schools as they interrogate their traditional grading practices and make shifts toward new systems that better measure student learning and growth.