School Board Considers Mitchem's New 90/10 Policy

It may not be what parents and teachers grew up with, but new 90/10 grading policy, which puts more emphasis on tests and what students can prove they know than homework and class participation, will be coming to a school near you.

Although Mitchem has been for much of his first two months on the job informing the public of the policy, he officially presented it to the Valley View school board Monday at the board's regularly scheduled meeting.

The board will now consider the change in policy—to see all the official changes, click HERE—and likely vote to adopt the change at its next board meeting Sept. 22.

That action is essentially a formality as Mitchem was hired based in part on his new plan for the district.

The 90/10 policy places less emphasis on formative assessments and compliance, like homework or class projects, and more on the end result—summative assessments, or passing tests and proving mastery of the subject.

Under the new policy, which will only be applied to grades 6-12, the decision to promote a student to the next grade level will be based on successful completion of curriculum, attendance and performance on assessments — and not on classroom participation.

Valley View school board President Steve Quigley said the new policy is geared towards making sure students know the material rather memorize the matter—no matter how long it takes.

"The key is that students learn (the material), and not just learn it in the first week," he said. 

Mitchem's policy is not revolutionary.

The nation's second largest school district, the Los Angeles Unified School District, is in the process of considering a nearly identical policy.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, L.A. Unified is joining a growing list of school districts across the country that are downgrading the importance of homework.

The approach, the report says, is intended to account for the myriad urban problems facing the district's mostly low-income, minority population. It's also aimed at supporting L.A. Unified's increasing focus on boosting measureable academic achievement, something Valley View has been facing in recent years.

According to the new Valley View policy, the district believes that "all children can learn, desire to learn, and want to be successful." But students learn at different paces and when teachers move on from lesson plan to lesson plan, slower learners can fall behind. 

The 90/10 policy can help curb that curve, officials say, thanks to a students option to retake summative assessments whenever he or she obtains a grade of D or below.

"A comparable, alternative form of assessment should be used to assess the specific targets where mastery was not demonstrated. Prior to retaking a summative assessment, the student is expected to earn this opportunity by accomplishing an activity/activities that are designed by the teacher to prepare the student for the re-assessment," the policy says.

The policy is likely good news to students and parents of students that may fall behind or learn slowly.

But as with any new plan, the policy will not win over everyone.

From the L.A. Times report:

Critics -- mostly teachers -- worry that the policy will encourage students to slack off assigned work and even reward those who already disregard assignments. And they say it could penalize hardworking students who receive higher marks for effort.

Some educators also object to a one-size-fits-all mandate they said could hamstring teaching or homogenize it. They say, too, that students who do their homework perform significantly better than those who don't -- a view supported by research.

But Mitchem said he has insulated himself with teachers and administrators that fully support the plan. Administrators such as new principal Fabby Williams.

Williams was hired in February and soon came under fire for his work as principal at his former school district, Austin Polytechnical Academy in Chicago—a New York Times article reported some teachers at Williams’ current school thought he was unresponsive to the interests of faculty and students.

But Mitchem said he hired Williams to be a trailblazer—someone willing to take risks in the best interests of the students at BHS

“No one wants to be a trailblazer,” Mitchem said. “But that is what I hired him for. I hire people to set the path … to take risk in the interest of children. I hire people with a very particular belief system.