REPORT CARD CHANGES PLANNED

Two extra report cards each year and a consistent way of figuring semester grades should eliminate any confusion about how well Cape Girardeau secondary students are doing in classes next year.

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education Monday approved six-week grade report cycles for students in eighth-through-12th grades beginning next fall.

The change means students will receive six report cards annually at the six-, 12- and 18-week marks in the fall and winter semesters. Students have been getting report cards at the midpoint and end of each semester.

Assistant schools superintendent Mark Bowles said teachers and administrators at the junior high and high schools have discussed the need for improved grade report methods in recent years. Inconsistencies in how grades are computed and the need to keep parents from being surprised when they open report cards brought about the change, he said.

Although the extra report cards will mean additional work for teachers, they also will help parents keep track of their children's grades, Bowles said.

Brenda Woemmel, president of the local National Education Association chapter, said she hasn't heard any objections from teachers about the additional work. "We'll just have to see how it plays out," she said.

Bowles said administrators next fall will study the new reporting methods before deciding which grade levels to include. Some eighth- and ninth-grade students currently attend classes at the high school, which is why eighth-graders were included in the initial plan. But that problem won't exist when the new high school opens for grades nine through 12 in fall 2002.

"We'll see how it goes this fall, then we'll see how critical it is for the eighth grade to remain involved in the grading cycle," Bowles said.

Along with the additional report cards, teachers will have to conform to a new way of computing semester grades. Currently, teachers treat quarter grades as independent grades that are averaged together to determine a semester grade. Some teachers prefer to average percentages from the quarter grades, while others average the letter grades.

However, all semester grades will be figured "as one continuous grading cycle" next fall, allowing teachers to keep a running total of students' grades in the 18-week semesters, said Bowles.

The change will mean less work for teachers on semester grades and fewer chances for confusion about grades.

"Any time you're averaging two grades, it can lead to confusion," he said. "It will be a more accurate reflection of students' work."

Bowles said how teachers currently figure grades can mean the difference between passing and failing. For example, if two students have identical quarter grades of an F and B-minus, one student could receive a failing grade and the other a passing grade at semester, said Bowles.

Using percentages to figure the semester grade, a 20 percent F and 80 percent B-minus equal an average of 50 percent, which is an F. But using the point system some teachers favor to average semester grades, allowing zero points for the F and 7 points for the B-minus, the second student would have an average of 3.5 points, which is a D-plus on an 11-point scale and barely passing.