There are basically only two changes that are being made to the DVUSD grading and reporting procedures:

1) A student's grade will be a direct reflection of only what they know and will not take into account chosen behaviors. Students will still be held accountable for behaviors such as turning work in late and cheating, but it will not be reflected in their grades. 

2) Students will be graded on a rubric-based grading scale  which is a more accurate way of reflecting what a student actually knows. See the New Grade Scales page.

For the 22-23 school year, all schools will implement the removal of behaviors from academic grades but only Phase 1 and Phase 2 schools will use the new grade scale.

We will be rolling out the new grading policies in a phased-in approach. Starting with the 2021-2022 school year, all DVUSD schools will be implementing the policy of taking behaviors out of the grading process to make them authentic. Also in the 21-22 school year nine Phase 1 schools use new grade scales. Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, seven more schools will use the new grading scales. See Phased Roll Out Plan page.

The Phase 1 Schools are: Anthem, Barry Goldwater High School, Deer Valley Middle, New River, Norterra Canyon, Sunset Ridge, Sandra Day O'Connor High School, Terramar, Union Park

The Phase 2 School are:  Canyon Springs, Desert Mountain, Esperanza, Inspiration Mountain, Park Meadows, Paseo Hills, Sunrise. 

The remaining schools are Phase 3 schools and will begin utilizing the new grade scales in the 23-24 school year. 

When grading on a "traditional" 0-100% grading scale, in other words giving percentage grades, and then converting that to an A-F grading system, grades are not fair and equal. When an A, B, C, and D are all worth 10 percentage points each but an F accounts for everything from a 0-59%, a failing grade has a much larger impact on a student's overall grade. 

This concept is explained through the research of Thomas R. Guskey in his article The Case Against Percentage Grades. 

GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a standardized system used in the United States for communicating academic achievement. The scale is a 4-0 scale.  Schools can also weight the grades of certain courses with extra GPA points for higher rigor courses.  This produces a "weighted GPA."  In DVUSD, honors, Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses are given an extra GPA honor point if a student earns a "C" or "2" or better. High school transcripts include a key that communicates the GPA conversion.

The GPA scale for DVUSD is as follows:

GRADE        GPA        GPA for honors/AP/IB

A or "4"          4.0          5.0

B or "3"          3.0          4.0

C or "2"          2.0          3.0

D or "1"          0               0 (If the course was graded using the 0-100% grade scale, a D is given 1.0 GPA points)

F or "0"          0               0

In January of 2018, the district created a Grading and Reporting Committee that consisted of over 100 people consisting of teachers from every grade level and subject area, administrators, district personnel and parents. This committee did not start with the premise that things had to change, only to look at our grading practices and if they concluded that policies were not what was best for students, they created a research-based alternative.

After engaging in research and bringing in a nationally recognized expert on grading and assessment to talk about academic research, the group unanimously decided that we needed a better system that would represent what a student learned in our classrooms. The committee then divided into two separate groups - one for grades PreK-6 and one for grades 7-12 - because they did not feel that creating one policy and grading scale for PreK-12 was what was best for all students. 

In July of 2022, the DVUSD Governing Board adopted a transition grade scale in which letter-based grades (A-F) would be reported for final course grades and the grade scale for grades 7-12 would be based upon a 60-100 scale. 

See the New Grade Scales page. 

Even though we are a unified school district, we never had systems in place to ensure that our grade levels and subject matter classes were all using consistent, research-based grading practices. All the academic research shows that using the traditional 0-100 point grading scale and also allowing behaviors to be included in academic grades is not a true reflection of what a student knows and so we realized a change was needed. Standards-based grading is based on the principle that grades should convey how well students have achieved standards. Being standards based means that every teacher, in every classroom, every day, through this continuous teaching/learning mindset, ensures students learn all standards and associated concepts and skills to mastery and know what standards they can continue to improve upon.

In order to maintain consistency in messaging within school communities, the phased-in approach was developed as a school by school roll out.  This way, parents with students in the same school are able to  focus on the new grade scales for all of their children in the school. Also, staff trainings and support have continuity with all teachers on the same page. At the high school level, transcripts are designed for the entire school with a grade scale key and GPA conversion included.  So, all students within the high school must utilize the same grading system.  . 

The 4-0 and the 4-1 scales do NOT equate to A-F. These grading scales are rubric-based with each number representing the different degrees of mastery of the standard being assessed. Each number will represent the degree of understanding and skill.a student has obtained on the standard. For the 22-23 school year, 7th-12th grade courses in Phase 1 and 2 schools will use an A-F to mark the degree of mastery of standards. All grade levels will use letter-based (A-F) marks for final course grades.  

On a "traditional" 0-100 grading scale, if a student earns between a 90-100% they are issued an "A", 80-89% is a "B", 70-79% is a "C", 60-69% is a "D" and then a student can earn a 0-59% to earn an "F". Each letter grade A-D represents 10 percentage points but an "F" is highly weighted with 59 percentage points. Also, if a student earns an 81% or an 89% it is still considered to be just a "B" and there is no indication of what the difference is between those two grades. All the academic research shows that this type of grading policy is not fair and does not give a true representation of what a student knows. 

DVUSD is implementing a standards-based grading system in which students will be assessed on standards and their level of proficiency of the standards will be reported.  Additionally, the grades on the standards will be used to calculate the final course grades. 

For the 22-23 school year, K-6th grade courses will use a 4-1 scale to mark proficiency of standards and course grades will be reported as A-F.  The 7th-12th grade courses will use a 0-100% scale and report as an A-F for standards and for the final course grades.  See the New Grade Scales page 

For more than 2 decades teachers have been teaching to identified standards of learning.  It only makes sense that we report on the learning of these standards. Grading based on standards provides the information parents, students, and educators need to evaluate a student’s learning progress. A standards-based mindset is the process by which schools move toward assessing standards and reporting academic progress in a more accurate way.  In order to improve accuracy, penalties and rewards for non-academic behaviors must be removed from academic reporting.  This also means that when a student meets the school's conditions for submitting late work or earning a reassessment opportunity, the grade he/she earns cannot be capped or reduced, which would make the grade inaccurate.  Additionally, a standards-based mindset includes the separation of in-process learning or practice from assessment. In other words, the work a student completes when practicing the new learning or skill should not unduly influence his/her grade.  The practice or in-process learning phase should instead be focused on learning and skill development as well as feedback.  After a period of practice, the teacher will then assess the student's learning.  The assessment of the learning will result in a grade that does influence the student's course grade. Finally, a standards-based mindset requires the use of rubric-based grading scales that report a student's mastery of the learning standards rather than an accumulation of points.  

The amount of work students will do does not change with these new grading policies - the classroom teacher still decides what to assign as they always have.

The purpose of this new unified grade policy is not to make it easier or harder on students but rather to ensure that the grades a student receives accurately represents what the student knows and not have it also reflect any chosen behavior such as turning in work late.

Each school will determine what that school's specific policy will be for turning in late work for full credit based on their students and community. But if a student still chooses not to turn in their work, the student will be issued a "1" on the standard(s) being assessed in grades K-6 and an "F" in grades 7-12.

The primary goal of school is to ensure that students learn the academic standards, but not all students learn at the same pace or learn material the same way. Allowing students to retake assessments simply gives some students the opportunity they need to master the standards and prove what they have actually learned. Even in the "real world", people have opportunities for reassessment. For example, if a person is taking an assessment to get a professional certificate and they happen to fail the test, they are allowed to retake that assessment as many times as they need in order to pass. Think of such high-stakes tests as the Bar Exam, driver's license tests, ACT, SAT, USMLE (doctor's), are able to be re-taken.The difference with our policy is that in order for a student to be allowed to retake an assessment, they will have to prove to the teacher that additional learning did take place and if that does not happen, then the original grade will stand. Also, note that reassessment does not necessarily mean that a student will re-take the same test.  The teacher may employ another assessment format, allow the student to reassess on only the portion they need to show mastery on, or provide the opportunity for the student to re-perform on the standard in a later unit or assignment.Each school has parameters and procedures around reassessment.  Be sure to check with the school or your child's teacher. 

Honors and AP courses will be graded on the standards aligned with the course. Honors and AP course material and pacing is at a more rigorous level than general education courses.  Because of this, students will earn an extra GPA point if their final course grade is a C or higher. The New Grade Scales page includes a chart with the GPA conversion.

Students will be graded on the standards aligned with the course they are enrolled in. For example, a 4th grade student enrolled in 5th grade Math will be graded on the 5th grade math standards. A 4th grade student enrolled in 4th grade Math who is participating in a gifted cohort to receive enrichment learning opportunities will be graded on the 4th grade math standards.

For all DVUSD high schools, regardless of the grading scale they are using this year, students earning an  A, B, C, or D will be eligible to participate in AIA sports and activities. 

For students in DVUSD schools that have transitioned to standards-based grading, a course grade of "D" or "F" will result in the student being ineligible to participate in sports. 

The only changes to DVUSD high school transcripts will be an updated key that includes the A-F scale and 4-0 scale (used in the 21-22 school year).The key at the bottom of the transcript will list each grade and the GPA conversion. Colleges and universities work with a wide variety of transcripts from institutions across the country and world and are equipped to analyze the various documents.  Both the A-F and 4-0 grading scales are very common and easily convert to the 4.0 GPA scale.  The 4.0 GPA scale is the standardized academic achievement scale colleges and universities use to evaluate U.S. transcripts. For more information on transcripts, see the  Transcripts page. 

Parents and teachers were part of the Grading & Reporting Grade Band teams that met several years ago to evaluate DVUSD's grading practices and determine what elements needed to be revised.  Additionally, teachers are part of the Promotion, Retention, Acceleration, and Grading (PRAG) and Grading, Reporting, And Graduation (GRAG) guidebook teams.  In January 2022, after the first semester of the new grading practices were implemented at nine DVUSD schools, parents and teachers were encouraged to participate in surveys.  Here  are the results of the surveys.

WestMec grades are provided by the instructor at WestMec and these grades will be utilized if they are transferred to the high school transcript.  WestMEC grades are reported using a letter-based (A-F) mark. 

Dual enrollment courses are graded based on the college departmental policies concerning late work, retakes, and academic integrity. Students will receive a grade on their high school transcript as well as a grade on the college's transcript.  Both the high school and college grade will appear as a letter-based (A-F) mark. However, in some instances the two grades may differ based upon the grading parameters of each institution. 

If a student changes schools during a marking period, a transfer grade, in the form of A-F, will be sent to the receiving school.  The transfer grade will denote where the student currently stands with their course grade.  The receiving teacher will use the transfer grade as a starting point for the student's grades moving forward. Note that a final course grade of "D" earned at a school using the new grade scale will not be granted credit at a school using the older traditional grade scale.  The scales are very different and the "D" on the two scales is NOT equivalent. 

Students at Phase 1 and 2 elementary and middle schools will be eligible for a new award called the Academic Excellence Award.  

The removal of non-academic (behavioral) components will be applied to all schools, regardless of grade level. Each school will develop procedures around late work and reassessment that is developmentally appropriate for their students and community. Additionally, all students, regardless of grade level, will be graded on their proficiency of the standards rather than overall summary point-based scores on assignments and assessments.  The standards grades will be calculated to produce the student's final course grades.  The grading procedure that will differ between grade levels, is the grade scale used.  K-6th grade courses will use a 4-1 scale to report proficiency of the standards and final course grades will use a specific A-F scale.  Seventh-12th grade courses will use a 0-100% scale which wil convert to an A-F mark for both reporting proficiency of the standards and for the final course grade. 

No, this will not affect college applications and scholarships. Schools all over the country work on numerous different types of grading scales, so universities and colleges are used to interpreting a wide variety of transcripts. As long as the grades used, whether they are A-F, 4-0, or some other scale, convert to the 4.0 GPA scale, colleges and universities can effectively evaluate the transcript.  The 4.0 GPA scale is a standardized scale used by U.S.schools to report academic achievement.  The use of the 4.0 GPA scale puts U.S.students on a similar and comparable system.