San Diego

Bay Park Elementary School teachers were granted permission Tuesday to waive letter grades in social studies and science for two years while they plan an improved curriculum and seek better ways to judge a student’s academic progress. San Diego city schools trustees voted 4 to 0, with Kay Davis absent, to approve the plan, which gives the teachers time to design new tests that move away from measuring only rote information.

Trustee Jim Roache said he was impressed by the quality of the school’s proposal in what he called “a controversial” area of assessment. “You’ve stuck your neck out,” Roache said, adding that, “a few years ago, I would have said, ‘No way would I have voted for this.’ ”