– Baltimore schools grade manipulation review
– Baltimore schools grade manipulation investigation.

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Baltimore City Schools Audit Finds No Widespread Grade Manipulation

A comprehensive review of Baltimore City schools, analyzing over 18 million records, has concluded that there is no evidence of widespread grade manipulation within the system, officials announced at Tuesday night’s Board of School Commissioners meeting.

The audit was ordered by the state’s Department of Education following a report from the 2022 Maryland Inspector General for Education, which raised concerns about inconsistencies in the city school system’s grading policies. Specifically, the report highlighted instances where grades were rounded up within 1 to 3 percentage points of passing, resulting in over 12,500 grade changes from fail to pass between 2016 and the end of the 2019-20 school year.

Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal conducted the analysis, focusing on records from the 2022-23 school year, which marked the first “near-normal” school year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to school officials.

Of the more than 250,000 records identified as grade changes, approximately 40% were deemed technical record-keeping documents with no impact on final grades. Only 0.02% of all modified records were found to be changes affecting final report card grades.

Legitimate Grade Changes

Sonja Santelises, CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools System, emphasised that grades can be legitimately changed for reasons such as correcting data entry errors or miscalculations. Out of millions of grade entries, only four final grades were altered from fail to pass.

“When we discuss mass grade changing, we are referring to just four grades out of 18 million that benefited students,” Santelises stated.

Primary Causes of Grade Changes

Jim Grady, managing director of public sector services at Alvarez & Marsal, identified teachers, particularly in elementary schools, as the primary drivers of the system’s grade change issues. Late entry of grades after the marking period ended was a common occurrence, with many grades being delayed due to students transferring to new schools and their previous school’s grades being sent late.

The analysis revealed that nearly 3,500 final grades were modified from “null” to pass.

Grading Policy Review

Rachel Pfeifer, Executive Director of Academics at BCPSS, presented an overview of the audit’s findings, stating that the review was not an investigation but a performance tool used to update the system’s grading policies, which are revisited every five years.

City schools revamped their grading policies in 2017 and 2019 following the discovery of administrators at Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts fabricating classes and altering failing grades to approve students for graduation. An incriminating OIGE report on the scheme was published after a two-year investigation.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Results

Additionally, school officials announced that students who attended a city prekindergarten programme or Judy Center outperformed their peers on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. This assessment evaluates a child’s behaviour, motor skills, and cognitive abilities in math and language.

Preparing 3- and 4-year-olds for kindergarten and elementary school is a key focus of the state education department and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s education reform plan. The Blueprint advocates for expanding the number of Judy Centers across the state to help children from diverse backgrounds develop essential social and academic skills.

“All of our student groups, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, either matched or exceeded the same groups at the state level,” Santelises noted.

Impact on Student Readiness

Studies have shown that children who have a strong foundation for learning are more likely to succeed in later grade levels. Approximately 46% of Baltimore City school students demonstrated readiness on the 2023-24 assessment, surpassing the 44% readiness rate for Maryland students overall.

Notably, multilingual learner students in Baltimore improved their readiness by 9 percentage points, reaching 24%, which doubled the state’s readiness rate of 12%. Similarly, students with disabilities saw an 11 percentage point increase to match the state’s readiness rate of 18%.

“Our efforts for our youngest learners are proving effective, making a difference, and having a positive impact,” stated Joan Dabrowski, Chief Academic Officer at BCPSS.

Judy Centers in Baltimore City and Cecil County

Baltimore City and Cecil County have the most Judy Centers in Maryland. An annual report on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment outcomes will be released in the coming weeks, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the state education department.

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