A-F grades of Indiana schools clear and apparently are here to stay

But few people anticipated the stakes when schools were first put in accountability categories in 2006. The tipping point came in 2011, when categories were switched to the much more in-your-face A, B, C. D or F grades.

Lawmakers then started attaching the grades to program after program. From takeover and teacher pay to vouchers and charter grants – the grades sometimes control the fate of schools, teachers and students.

“What got off track was comparing schools via the label. You can’t compare schools if the makeup of the student body is so diverse, from special education to non-English speaking and poverty,” Fort Wayne Community Schools Superintendent Wendy Robinson said.

“The concept of putting a letter grade on the value you are adding to a human life is going down the wrong path.”

But the grades seem to be here to stay, despite efforts by Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz to pause or otherwise halt the accountability plan.

“Indiana’s A to F system is an easy to understand model that gives parents information about how their child’s school is performing,” said State Board of Education member David Freitas. “It is a system that lets us celebrate the great work taking place in our classrooms, nearly 75 percent of our schools are A or B schools, and identify schools that need some extra help in educating our children. A to F is one tool that helps us set a high bar for performance and provides a goal that everyone can strive to achieve.”

The grades generally are based on ISTEP+ testing results, though other factors such as graduation rates and college and career readness, are included.

Ritz and some others fear large drops in test scores this year due to new academic standards and a new test. That could, in turn, drop A to F grades, which are now expected in January for the 2014-15 school year.