Sacramento Students Might Earn An Easier ‘A’ Under Distance Learning

It may soon be easier for students to get an “A’ in Sacramento City Unified School District’s distance learning model, but administrators say a more relaxed grading structure to motivate students. 

In general, the district’s changes make it so that no student can receive a lower grade, even if they do not participate in distance learning. But students who do log on will have the opportunity to raise grades. 

“This is a pandemic. This is a new learning space for all of us. And so, we wanted to make sure we focused on encouraging success as opposed to stress with our families and students,” Superintendent Jorge Aguilar said. 

Some school districts like Elk Grove Unified have implemented similar grading policies, and others like San Juan have decided to only give pass-or-fail grades for this quarter. 

But Aguilar says he felt it was important to still grade students to keep them motivated. 

For the district, the adjusted grading system for the remainder of the school year is: an “A” to students with more than 80% in a class, a “B” to 70 to 79% and so on.

“We know that adjusting the grading scale feels like we’re inflating grades,” Aguilar said. “But part of our consideration and analysis was to both reward and commend students who were continuing to be engaged, but also to make sure that we did everything possible to maintain engagement and re-engage those students that we’re concerned about.” 

At last count, SCUSD was not able to contact approximately 1,600 students since campuses closed in mid-March, though Aguilar said they have made progress in addressing that number.