A suburban school district in Denver is proposing a paradigm shift — they want to eliminate the traditional age-level grades of K through 12 and implement a ten-level gradation that does not rely on the student’s age but instead relies on meeting academic standards.
I would like to believe that they are actually proposing that students meet something resembling hard requirements before advancing from one level to another, as if elementary and secondary education is a video game. But my experience with these sorts of things has been that they really don’t mean standards, it’s usually mindless fluff.
If the school district is serious, then they’re going to be in for some rough times. Anything that amounts to a hard-and-fast quantitative standard is going to have a disparate impact on black and Hispanic students. (The Adams district is becoming rapidly more Hispanic, the article admits.) I’m waiting for a scenario ten years down the line when some 20-year old black or Hispanic student is sitting in the same level with smart 8-year old white kids. The NAACP and MALDEF will see you in court.
Which is why I don’t think that the school district is serious about real standards. They know the time of day as well as anyone else.
Besides, how are these ten levels that much different than 13 age-level grades? It used to be that you had to meet standards to pass from one grade to another.
