LAUSD encourages "equitable grading" including providing descriptive feedback to students and parents/guardians. This would be easier to do if teachers had an updated list of specific, constructive comments to put on progress reports and final report cards. The current comment options are outdated and inadequate. With secondary teachers typically being responsible for reporting grades for 150-190 students each mark reporting period, we should have better tools at our disposal for communicating efficiently with our students' families.

We are calling on LAUSD's Chief Academic Officer Frances Baez and Director of Secondary Instruction Mylene Keipp to authorize a representative survey or a focus group of secondary teachers to develop a list of new comment codes to implement as soon as possible. We suggest the following new additions: 

--“Shows achievement in primary language” for students who show understanding of the concepts but are not yet able to complete the work in English. 

--“Working towards mastery of academic language” for those who show understanding but have not yet mastered academic writing or speaking.

--”making progress towards IEP goals”

--”working towards meeting IEP goals”

--”not showing progress towards IEP goals”

--"Using phone/electronics in class without permission." 

--"Does not make up work missed during absences" would be more helpful than "does not complete assignments."

--Submits assignments late.

--"Plagiarizes" or "submits work done by others"--this is a recurring problem even after we explain to students that it is not acceptable.

--”Sleeps in class”--Yes, we know some students have nighttime jobs, but some of them are also just staying up too late using their phones or tablets and parents have no idea.

--“Excessive absences” and “excessive tardies” are currently one comment but should be two separate ones for clearer explanation of the problem.

If LAUSD is serious about teacher retention, give us the tools we need to communicate effectively with the families we serve!