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Federal Grading System Out For LCPS, New State System In

  

New Mexico is becoming the latest state to be freed from the No Child Left Behind grading system. As KRWG’s Vanessa Dabovich reports the state may be free of the federal system, but the recently implemented state A to F grading system left Las Cruces schools with less than stellar marks.

The Public Education Department recently implemented an A to F grading system to replace the federal rating system.  The grades are based on standardized tests taken by students and on year-to-year growth of student performance in reading and mathematics. Other factors include the high school graduation rate.

Nearly 46 percent of Las Cruces Public Schools received D grades, 32 percent received C’s, 10 percent B’s and 5 percent received A’s.

LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds says the grading process is built on a model of what students are expected to learn within a year’s time. It mediates to determine the correct pacing in the classroom. Rounds says if you meet the requirements it’s typical to receive a C. The B’s and A’s are obtained by going beyond the standard pace.

Rounds-“ My suspicion is that if a student was approaching a years’ worth of learning over a year and they weren’t in one of those two target zones we tended to think that was ok. That’s not an excuse in fact that’s a pretty good wake up call for us. We have to look at every child’s progress and not become complacent because they are doing ok.”

One area LCPS did outrank the state in was average attendance. All schools had a 95 percent attendance rate with some as high as 97 percent.

To hear the full interview with Superintendant Stan Rounds as well as news on the latino achievement gap, tune into Fronteras: A Changing America Saturday at 5 on KRWG.

Vanessa Dabovich was an anchor for KRWG-FM.