By Bella Torres
Starting next year, Albuquerque high school students will receive one quarterly progress report per semester rather than two six-week progress reports per semester, partly to get in line with middle- and elementary-school practices.
Currently, students get report cards after fall and spring semester, and progress reports twice each semester – after the sixth and 12th fall semester, and after the 24th and 30th weeks of spring semester.
With the change, students will receive progress reports twice – at the halfway points of both fall and spring semesters.
“Currently, we have schools that are on different grade reporting periods and we would like to have our district follow one,” Dr. Channell Segura, APS chief of schools, said in an email announcing the change. “In researching what other districts do, the most common grade reporting cycle follows a four academic quarter model.”
One reason for the change is to make it easier for parents – especially those with children in multiple grades – to monitor their students.
Rhonda Larson, La Cueva High School’s bookkeeper, said that ¨parents would be more aware with report cards, however, a negative is it would cause more stress on students as well as cause more procrastination.¨
Yvette Perez, a La Cueva math teacher, said, ¨I would only support it if (students) were responsible, otherwise there may be more procrastination.¨ She understands the grading change but is not sure if it will affect students’ academic success positively.
Before making the change, Channell said, APS teachers and principals were surveyed and that only 20 percent opposed it.