By Jolie Jackson
Friendswood’s school district adopted a new system of grading and reviewing student performance after six years of interest. The focus: “student-focused learning.”
“We have not reached the final destination, but many celebrations throughout,” Assistant Superintendent Kim Cole said. “We have the opportunity to redefine the measure of student success and to create authentic learning classrooms across the district.”
The system starts by measuring the effectiveness of instruction and evidence-based reporting. Teachers can track student progress, give appropriate feedback, and adapt instruction to meet student needs in the best way they see fit.
“I’ve been focusing on actionable feedback with a quiz analysis,” teacher Monica Wilder said. “My students go through their quiz with a sheet, correcting their quiz and seeing how they did. My students have told me that they really appreciate the extra practice.”
A significant factor in student-focused learning involves reassessing summative (test) grades for up to a 90 at the junior high and 85 at the high school level. Students have given positive feedback regarding this protocol.
“One time, I took a math test and I remember forgetting everything,” senior Hailey Setoudeh said. “I bombed it, but every morning the next week I would ask for practice problems. Whenever I retook it, I only aced it because my teacher was open to reteaching the material.”
Another piece of this system, Success Standards, was implemented to outline structural guidelines in the classroom. Students are expected to uphold communication, perseverance, and responsibility skills to reassess.
“We held a committee with over 50 different teachers, from AP, on-level, and special education to find the best way to make this work,” Mrs. Cole said. “Student behavior issues regarding the new policy was a big topic, so we implemented these standards.”
The district is still finding ways to improve this learning system but is encouraged by the recent feedback.
“There are teachers in overwhelming support that previously didn’t accept the policy or even explore it at first,” Mrs. Cole said. “We have worked to shape this into a program that works for both students and teachers. At the end of the day, this is a policy that prevents failure.”
