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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
Public schools in Hamilton County seem to have adopted a Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) grading system that requires teachers to assign students a minimum grade of 50 regardless of the grade they earned, even if that student has been caught cheating or has not properly attempted to submit assignments.
According to MNPS grading procedures, “A 50 is the lowest quarter grade a student may receive,” and “A 50 is the lowest exam grade a student may receive.”
This phrasing is reiterated several times throughout the grading procedures document which goes on to state that for high school state assessments taken in middle school, “Assign a grade of 50 as 15% of the semester grade to students with an unexcused absence, who refused the test, or who have a nullified score due to cheating.”
The same instructions apply to the grading procedure for grades 9-12, including high school credit courses taken in any other grade level.
The grading legends used by MNPS are as follows:
Grades K-1:
100 – 90 = E = Excellent
89 – 80 = S = Satisfactory
79 – 70 = P = Progressing
69 – 60 = N = Needs Improvement
59 – 0 = U = Unsatisfactory
Grades 5-8 and 9-12:
A = 100-90
B = 89-80
C = 79-70
D = 69-60
F = 59-0
I = Incomplete
The implementation of this grading policy is not the first time MNPS has made slightly suspect decisions that positively impacted their numbers. Several years back, an MNPS internal review was conducted to investigate the district’s testing practices.
Now, Hamilton County School district has also adopted this policy and in October of 2022 teachers were informed that due to changes in the grading scale the base grade had been “updated” for overriding Quarter 1 grades.
Some teachers were then instructed by email and via an end of semester checklist, to “Put the student’s actual score in the comments,” because “Scores less than 50 must be overridden for each Quarter.”
But that same checklist goes on to remind teachers to “Ensure that all parents of failing students have been contacted and informed of their students’ Q2/S1 status.”
It seems that this “no score below 50” grading policy, both raises the grades for cheating students or students that would otherwise get a lower grade, and quite possibly makes the schools and school district at large look better.
While the policy does not make it impossible for a student to fail, it does make it far easier for a student to catch up.
If the failing grade received is a 50 instead of a 30, the student may be failing but depending on other grades received, has a more likely chance of catching up.
If it’s easier for students’ grades to go up, it’s also easier for school and district success rates to go up.
“It damages grading integrity and lowers curriculum standards,” wrote Hamilton County School Board Member, Larry Grohn, in an official statement.
“Assistant Supt. Sonia Stewart oversees community superintendents and K-12 learning,” Grohn noted, pointing out Hamilton County Board Policy 4.601 which dictates that “The Director of Schools shall submit a copy of the grading, reporting, and assessment systems to the Board before the system is implemented.”
Hamilton County’s Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson, is technically The Director of Schools but certain responsibilities can be carried out by a “designee.”
Grohn goes on to state that this policy was not followed, saying, “It is the school board, and only the school board, which is empowered to decide whether a significant change in grading guidelines is an operational decision or a policy decision.”
Prior to her work as Hamilton County’s Deputy Superintendent, Stewert held the position of Executive Principal at Pearl Cohn High School from 2012-2018 and served as MNPS’ Executive Officer of Organizational Development from 2018-2020.
The Tennessee Conservative reached out for comment but MNPS has not responded at the time of this article’s publication.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
