Commack High School May Drop Two Marking Periods

Commack High School students may see less report cards next year as administrators consider going from six marking periods to four.

Most high schools on Long Island use a four-marking period system. However, Commack has been the outlier, implementing six marking periods, in which students can then drop their lowest scores if they show 85 percent mastery in the given subjects at the end of the year. School officials are now considering going a four-marking period system, which would allow for nine weeks of study instead of six between each report card. Under the new system, students would no longer be able to drop their lowest marking period scores.

Principal Catherine Nolan said that school’s current system puts the classroom focus on scores, rather than the material. 

“Having nine weeks for each marking period instead of six would allow more opportunities for a student to recover from a low grade and more time for teachers to provide corrective feedback and deepen learning progress,” she said at a Commack school board meeting Nov. 21.

“With a six-week marking period, we are focusing on the grades and not the learning,” she added.

Nolan said that school committees have been conducting internal research on the benefits of a six-week marking period system versus a nine-week structure since 2010 and that they have found no data indicating that shorter marking periods are more beneficial. 

“The study indicates that with a longer time frame, students will have time to earn more grades and complete long term projects and coursework will not be as rushed. Six weeks may not be enough time to cover necessary materials as compared to nine,” the principal said.

The committee also surveyed 1,618 students as part of their research, and found that 72 percent of respondents said they are stressed during the six-week marking structure and that 45 percent of those asked, said that they wanted to see a change in marking system.

If the change is approved by the Board of Education, each marking period with be worth 20 percent of a student’s overall grade. A midterm or final assessment would also be worth 20 percent.

If approved, the new marking system would go into effect during the 2014-15 school year.