Last week, I learned from a group in Pacific Grove called PG Lives that the Pacific Grove School Board was meeting on August 3. Why did that matter? One of the agenda items was a small payment to the Monterey County of Office of Education for a training for teachers on “Implementing Equitable Grading in the Classroom staff training.” It’s item N in the linked agenda, on page 62.
So I started reading on-line articles on equitable grading, saw enough that I was concerned about, and decided to show up to give a 3-minute comment. The link to the YouTube video of the meeting is here.
There were 5 board members. Four of them showed up in person and one of them, Laura Ottmar, probed Sean Roach, middle school principal, about what equitable grading entails. I thought she did a great job, asking a number of questions that I would have asked. Her probing and his responses go from about 32:25 to about 53:40. Notice how Ottmar sticks to her guns at the 51:30 point, noting that the proposal is about implementation, not just about examining the policy. Her point was that if the plan were to be implemented, it would violate one of the Board’s policies.
Then at 54:00, the chair opened it to the public, which included a lot of teachers. All 5 members of the public who were not employees of the Pacific Grove schools and who commented, including me, criticized the proposal. Some of the critics stated their concern that this involved race. They might be right and might have read more about it than I had. In my reading, I didn’t see this and so I spoke about what I knew. I had some uncertainty at the end of my 3-minute comment about what the book at issue, Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman, said about ethics and so I hedged appropriately. My comment goes from about 1:03:40 to about 1:06:40.
If you look at nothing else, go to the 1:09:22 point and check the short comment of Lito Garcia, the principal of Pacific Grove High School. As he came to the microphone, I got a close look at his face and he seemed angry. Listen to what he says and his tone at about the 1:10:10 point. Does it sound as if he was trying to intimidate the school board? Later, board member Brian Swanson, at 1:23:04, commends the staff and teachers for their input. Notice whom he leaves out.
This is public choice in action. There were approximately 15 staff members and teachers present and about 5 members of the public. The staff members and teachers are the concentrated interest group. We, the Pacific Grove citizens who pay the taxes, and some of whom have kids in school, are not. It seemed, from Lito Garcia’s tone and from Brian Swanson’s comment, that we, the great unwashed, were party crashers who were not welcome.
My one disappointment with Laura Ottmar is at the 1:25:35 point where she says that she doesn’t want to “hinder what’s happening here” because she can “hear the passion.” So she will vote yes. At least she sticks to her guns about full implementation (at the 1:27:40 point.)
In a note to her, I congratulated her on asking tough questions. I also noted that when all that’s required for a measure to pass is a majority, a 4-1 vote doesn’t hinder anything. On the other hand, a 5-0 vote will tell members of the public who are paying only a little attention that everything is fine.
The whole segment on the proposal ends at 1:31:18.
READER COMMENTS
Michael Edward Gibbs
Aug 7 2023 at 12:36pm
Well done!!! Fair and balanced.
All politics are local, and national change will begin in places like local school districts.
Schools assign resources based on alternative grading systems like equity grading (EG). EG lowers the bar for everyone, but without equal opportunity for benefit. Local districts could run afoul of the recently decided Supreme Court case on college admissions.
EG is an excuse for poor teaching and bad methods in our schools. Its why we are falling behind so fast on the world stage. PG High School rates 132rd in the state, and 943rd in the country. PG rates 56.2/100 on the “College Readiness Index”. (U.S. News) Not terrible, but not anything to brag about. And the rating is trending in the wrong direction—down! Next will come the call to eliminate AP courses.
“Those who can, teach. Those who can’t, grade for equity.”
Adam de Boor
Aug 10 2023 at 2:50am
Equitable Grading is about providing students timely feedback, and using standard rubrics while assessing for mastery of the subject. On what basis are you saying that it lowers the bar for everyone, Mike? We would like to ensure that students learn how to learn, but any assessments of that, other than verifying that they have learned, are going to be fraught with personal biases. I find it hard to believe that anyone can find fault with a system that verifies that students have learned what they need to learn.
Adam
Paul Rossi
Aug 12 2023 at 4:52pm
“Grading for Equity” should be renamed DEgrading for Equity.
There is very flimsy evidence that this practice results in improved learning outcomes.
It creates incentives for students to ignore deadlines.
It lowers the bar for all students, and patronizes and condescends to racial groups.
It should never have even been considered.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/06/degrading-for-equity-new-grading-scheme-arriving-soon-to-nais-private-schools/
Monte
Aug 7 2023 at 1:41pm
On the subject of cheating (which you address towards the end of your commentary), can be found this quote by Dr. Feldman in his book, Grading For Equity:
He further elaborates how retributive and deterrence punishments often have a disproportionate negative impact on students of color. So those concerns expressed by critics about race and cheating, it appears, are valid.
And I can’t help but share this quote by Cevin Soling, graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and lecturer on education issues and other subjects (see Why I Think Students Should Cheat):
Reading this article aloud to my wife left me in a brief state of catatonia, the spell thankfully broken by her uncontrollable laughter.
dennis e miller
Aug 8 2023 at 4:43pm
I laughed out loud too. No state of catatonia here, but maybe a state of despair that there are people that think this way. But then again I’m probably speaking from my habit of arbitrary oppression for expressing the thought that people shouldn’t cheat.
Monte
Aug 9 2023 at 11:25am
Can you tell me how you acquired that habit? It sounds like something worth paying for…
steve
Aug 9 2023 at 1:33pm
That guy is nuts. However, what he should have said is that individual acts of cheating should be punished, hopefully in a way that encourages it to not happen again. When cheating is widespread and common the focus should change from the individual cheater to finding what is wrong with the system.
Steve
Carol Marquart
Aug 11 2023 at 2:08pm
I took the time to rewatch your video on the Aug. 3 PGUSD school board meeting. I was there but I missed so much of what was said. For those who questioned Grading For Equity, keep it up. We may not prevail but we can keep chipping away at misguided and damaging educational practice. Thank you, David for recording this.
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