newjerseynewsroom.com

Failing marks were reduced by 42 percent

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Superintendent Larrie Reynolds says the Mt. Olive school district policy of eliminating the "D" grade is accomplishing its purpose to this point. He says the number of failing grades for district middle and high school students dropped 42.5 percent in the first quarter, and more students were earning A's and B's.

When the district eliminated the D grade, it raised the failing score to anything below a 70. Reynolds said the policy, intended to challenge students to work harder, pushes students to do just that.

As part of the policy, hundreds of students were able to retake exams and redo assignments following an initial failing grade, bringing their scores up, and prompting a school board member and Mount Olive educator to question what the data really shows.

The Daily Record reports at the high school, the total number of grades below a 70 in all four grades fell from 1,024 last year, to 618 this year. At the middle school, the largest improvement was reported in the seventh grade, where failing grades dropped more than 60 percent, from 123 failures last year, to 49 this year.

Reynolds had proposed the policy last summer, saying he was tired of kids getting credit for not learning.

According to an Associated Press report on NorthJersey.com, the new policy gives hundreds of students an opportunity to retake exams and redo assignments following initial failing grades, often bringing up their scores and grades.

Reynolds said, "If they didn't understand the first time, they'd have a second chance. The best they could get the second chance was a 70."

Next month, middle and high school students who still failed after additional tutoring and retake opportunities will be able to enroll in an after-school tutoring program. At a cost of $150 per class, the nine-week, 30-hour Sunset Academy, will give students a chance to replace a failing grade in English or math with a grade no less than an 80.

According to the Mt. Olive School District website, data indicated that all Mount Olive Schools had surged forward and were on track to become one of Morris County's top ten academic performers.

And the Mount Olive Board of Education adopted a SIX Year Plan to boost "active" forms of learning, take advantage of economic efficiencies, and produce imaginative student performances. The Plan's five major improvement initiatives included a whole new school design that was crafted by over 100 community members.