Peoria Standard

Dr. Sandra Wilson, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for Peoria School District 150, recently briefed the Peoria Board of Education with updated grading adjustments and recommendations during a June 13 meeting.

These recommendations were made by a committee that was established in Fall 2021 to review the Peoria School District's grading rules.

Wilson noted that grading procedures had not been modified or reviewed since 2018.

"So, we really focused on our mission statement, and all of our decisions were guided by three questions," Wilson stated, "Is it equitable? Is it focused on student learning? And is it logistically reasonable for anything that we were looking at tweaking?"

The committee, which collected data using a variety of approaches, including a large poll of approximately 1500 individuals, also utilized various teacher-led focus groups to address each issue.

The committee's five suggestions include making reassessments apply to formative and summative assessments, introducing a deadline for incomplete work, modifying grade book weight categories, introducing a "no zero" grade book policy and producing quarterly grade reports.

Representatives from the American Institute for Research (AIR) collaborated with the committee, which included administration, educators across all grade levels, in addition to parents and students who were canvassed for feedback.