Oklahoma Board Adopts A-F School Grading System

Oklahoma schools will now be graded the same way students are graded. Thursday, the state board of education voted to adopt a grading system for schools.

The State Superintendent says the change will provide greater transparency. This system replaces the current Academic Performance Index, which gives a numeric score.

Report cards aren't just for the students anymore. Schools will now be graded on a letter scale so parents and students can easily see how their schools are performing.

"Everyone understands what an A through F means. We all got report cards in schools, we're all able to interpret that easily," said Damon Gardenhire, State Board of Education Spokesperson.

The board debated whether it's fair to simplify the complexities of education to a single letter - that parents will use to compare schools.

"I think there's some overplay that we have to say how is Charles Page compared to Sapulpa, and some of that is fair, but some is more counterproductive than productive," said LLoyd Snow, Sand Springs Superintendent.

The A-F reform was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Mary Fallin last year. The State Department of Education just had to come up with the rules for the system.

"This is information that has been publicly available for quite some time, many years, but it's been hard to interpret," Gardenhire said.

It decided that grades will be based on four factors: student achievement scores, annual learning gains, improvement of the lowest 25 percent of students and overall school improvement.

Schools will now be rewarded for offering and encouraging students to take courses above their grade level. They'll also earn extra points if parents and community members volunteer with the school.

The board believes that involvement is crucial.

"What we found in other states that have had similar reforms, is that if a school gets a low grade, the parents and community members tend to rally around the school," Gardenhire said.

During the Board of Education discussion, there were concerns that the standards may be too high for a school to get an "A."

A grade point average of at least 3.75 out of a 4.0 gets a school an "A." However, State Superintendent Janet Barresi says 60 percent of schools and districts would receive an A or B.

The new grading system takes effect IN the 2012-2013 school year.

2/24/2012 Related Story: Oklahoma Schools May Face A-F Grading Scale