Baltimore schools to replace failing grades with 'incomplete' grades, advance students anyway

You might remember back in March when we reported on a student in the Baltimore City School District who was supposed to graduate in June but learned he was being moved all the way back to the ninth grade. He’d passed three classes in four years of school and had a 0.13 grade point average — which put him 62nd in his class of 120 students … nearly in the top half.

Now we’re learning that Baltimore city schools are adopting a new grading system that will allow tens of thousands of students up to the next grade level despite them having failed classes.

Baltimore City Public Schools announced a new grading policy Tuesday that will allow the district to move tens of thousands of students who have failed at least one class up to the next grade level https://t.co/8ArUMxso0H

— CNN (@CNN) May 27, 2021

The school district claims the new policy is meant to compensate for the struggles of students during the coronavirus pandemic. Yon Pomrenze reports:

For high school students, a failing grade will be replaced with “No Credit,” and for students in second through eighth grades, an “Unsatisfactory” or “Fail” will be replaced with “Not Completed.”

Students who receive these “incomplete” grades will still be able to continue on to the next grade level.

“In all of these instances, we want to emphasize the word ‘yet’. Not completed yet, no credit yet,” said [Chief Academic Officer Joan] Dabrowski.

Sixty-three percent of middle and high school students are failing at least one class according to Baltimore City Public Schools — that’s nearly 25,000 students out of the nearly 40,000 sixth through twelfth graders in the district.

Even more worrying, 51% of students in grades 2-5 and 37% of Kindergarten and first-graders failed at least one course during this school year.

So the new policy is to focus on the word, “yet”? As in, you’re failing, but we’re not failing you yet?

This headline is terrible. Read the article if you haven't, people. This new grading policy is to help with the influx of kids "failing" classes because of the pandemic. These kids will still have to do the necessary work to pass, but won't be held back. The work will be made up.

— "Always" (@fallen_up54) May 27, 2021

We read the article, and we’re not sure when the ninth-grade work that led to a failing grade is going to be made up if the student is advanced to tenth grade.

For you people saying we're dumbing down America- do you remember we were dealing with a horrible health crisis last school year? We all suffered! Why continue punishing those poor kids? Let's move on. Anyway highly educated idiots in charge is why 2020 SUCKED!

— MPinFL (@fl_pin) May 28, 2021

Ackshually … we didn’t all suffer. Quite a lot of school districts stayed open with in-person instruction all last year. People seem to forget that.

This is no different than just saying we gave a bunch of kids who had F's, A's in order to pass them. No different. Except one sounds horrible and wrong, and the other they hope will sound better. It doesn't.

— Lincoln Lee (@U_Mad_Me_Happy) May 27, 2021

So give them a participation trophy for failing? Try that in real life when they are adults.

— Cleveland Ranter (@ClevelandRanter) May 28, 2021

Blue cities are violent trainwrecks.

— Cortez-Smollett (@CortezSmollett) May 27, 2021

How do they explain 25,000 out of nearly 40,000 sixth through twelfth graders in the district failing at least one class?

Related:

Student in Baltimore high school ranks near the top half of his class with a 0.13 grade point average https://t.co/W14wjKahag

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 4, 2021

Baltimore schools to replace failing grades with 'incomplete' grades, advance students anyway

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