Flushing HS Report #2: DOE Tepid Response to Principal Violation of DOE Rules

While STARS offers a variety of grading scales, schools are not required to use the entire 1-100 point scale in their grading policies.... Katie Hansen Office of Academic Policy and Systems
 

Dear DOE administrators,

Either you are flagrantly flouting your own grading policy or you are horribly confusing the terms: grading policy versus grading scale.

Hurricanes are categorized in a scale of 1 to 5. Weather stations, in an attempt to make sure people always prepare adequately in case of sudden storm strengthening, mandate that all storm broadcasts have category 3 as the lowest possible scale reported. Makes sense?...

So if Principals can choose to use any of the 1-100 scale as you have argued, is it okay if our school uses 64 as the lowest possible grade? Please respond.
Have a nice day.
Mr. Seung-Yong Ok

Hey, why not make the lowest score you can give "90"?
Follow-up to: Teacher Questions Flushing HS Principal's Grading System as Violation of DOE Rules

Office of Shael Polokow-Suransky responds:

Dear Mr. Ok,
Thank you for your email. We appreciate your concern and your attention to these topics. Shael shared your message with me and asked me to respond on his behalf. I am writing to reiterate the information shared with you by Superintendent Mendez. It is the right of a school principal to set the grading policy, including the number of marking periods per term and the grades awarded to students who are excessively absent. While STARS offers a variety of grading scales, schools are not required to use the entire 1-100 point scale in their grading policies.
I hope this addresses your concern. Please continue to work with your principal, your school’s Network Leader, and Superintendent Mendez if you wish to discuss this matter further.
Best,
Katie Hansen Office of Academic Policy and Systems


Dear DOE administrators,
Either you are flagrantly flouting your own grading policy or you are horribly confusing the terms: grading policy versus grading scale.

I will give you the benefit of the doubt that it's the latter. The former would mean the DOE are a bunch of data manipulating bureaucrats who put themselves ahead of children first. That would be too depressing of a thought.
Principals are allowed to choose their own grading policy - # of marking periods, Letter grades and their numerical equivalents, Pass/Fail, and whether the policy is relates to courses, departments, or school-wide.
However, it is absurd to interpret that as to mean principals can choose their own numerical scale. That scale is stated as 1-100 in your DOE policy.
So, here is an analogy to help you understand.
Hurricanes are categorized in a scale of 1 to 5. Weather stations, in an attempt to make sure people always prepare adequately in case of sudden storm strengthening, mandate that all storm broadcasts have category 3 as the lowest possible scale reported. Makes sense?

Seung Ok