First School Report Cards Will Not Include Letter Grades

The Alabama Board of Education is moving forward with report cards for schools, but the first reports will not assign schools an A-F letter grade.

Board members on Thursday approved rules for the report cards. The first reports, expected in December, will include information on student achievement but not letter grades.

Superintendent Michael Sentance says the reports will provide information that is “transparent to the public.”

Lawmakers in 2012 mandated the creation of A-F report cards. However, some board members questioned the usefulness of subjective grades.

Rep. Terri Collins, who sponsored the 2012 law, said she was OK with a temporary delay because of problems collecting data. However, she said it was a “tragedy” that the grades have been delayed this long.

Letter grades could begin in 2017.

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