New Grading System

* In response to your editorial, “It Just May Not Make the Grade” (Sept. 10), referring to the new LAUSD report card:

It is important for the public to know that the revised grading system is a part of the total reform movement in California elementary public schools. This reform movement is documented in the California State Department of Education 1992 publication, “It’s Elementary.” In its series of recommendations there is one in particular that addresses the grading system, with a recommendation to “not assign letter grades during the primary years.”

It is also important to note that “the grade” in a report card is not the only form of reporting student progress. It is more important to monitor student progress by actually checking the student’s performance on a collection of work accomplished over a period of time, in order to observe the growth or progress in the student’s learning. The parent conference also is an important part of this process.

It is in this spirit that the new progress report card was developed in a collaborative process involving teachers, parents and administrators in an effort to make learning, not grades, the purpose of education.

GERALDINE HERRERA

Administrator, Elementary Programs

LAUSD