The San Francisco Unified School District is backing away from a proposed “Grading for Equity” program that would have erased consideration of attendance, effort, and class participation from a student’s grade.
The city’s board of education heard the proposal on Tuesday and seemed poised to adopt it but was met with widespread backlash from parents and educators alike. Mayor Daniel Lurie announced late Wednesday that the plan would not go into effect.
“We owe our young people an education that prepares them to succeed. The proposed changes to grading at SFUSD would not accomplish that,” Lurie wrote on X.
“I have conveyed our view to SFUSD. We are optimistic that there is a better path forward for our kids and their future,” Lurie added.
Superintendent Maria Su also issued a statement announcing that the proposal had been placed on hold.
“It’s clear there are a lot of questions, concerns and misinformation with this proposal. We want to make sure any changes benefit our students. I have decided not to pursue this strategy for next year to ensure we have time to meaningfully engage the community,” Su said. “Right now we need to continue to focus on balancing our budget, stabilizing the district, and rebuilding trust.”
The program was intended to ensure “bias-resistant and motivational” grading practices. Under the equity program, students’ final grades would rely on summative assessments, not “classwork and homework,” according to district officials.
Superintendent Maria Su quietly unveiled her plan for the San Francisco Unified School District in a board meeting on Tuesday. Although her presentation to the board contained only one slide that mentioned the “Grading for Equity” plan (which is not subject to a board vote), one member petitioned the district for more information about the program.
In response to the member, administrators described the reasoning behind the district’s new “bias-resistant” grade evaluations.
“With equitable grading, teachers’ grades will be more accurate, more fair, more motivational, and more consistent across teachers within courses and across courses,” the administrators wrote. “D/F rates will decrease (particularly for historically underserved students), and there will be a decrease in grade inflation and grade ‘depression’—when grades are lower than the students’ actual understanding of course standards.”
The only downsides of the program, the administrators added, would be the additional education required for teachers to understand equitable practices, as well as the “multi-year” time commitment.
“The foundation of Equitable Grading is providing students the grade level essential content instruction,” the administrators continued. “The key components of Equitable Grading Practices are: providing retakes, not including lateness, effort, or participation in the grade, use of rubrics, not including classwork and homework in the grade, 100% of the grade based on summative assessments, using a minimum 50% or 0-4 scale.”
California nonprofit the Voice of San Francisco first reported on the district’s change in grading policy. According to VSF, the district plans to use consultant Joe Feldman, who authored Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms, to help implement the program.
Equitable grading would lower the grade threshold students need to receive “passing” marks — which tracks with proposed district goals outlined in Tuesday’s board meeting of ensuring each student receive “[a] C or better each marking period.”
“San Francisco has come up with a brilliant solution for its failing schools,” California State Representative Kevin Kiley said. “Students simply won’t be failed. Under the new ‘Grading for Equity’ plan, Fs are now Cs; Bs are now As; homework and tests are ungraded; truancy is unpunished; and finals can be re-taken again and again.”
Fifty-two percent of SFUSD high school students tested at or above proficiency level for reading and 36 percent tested at or above proficiency level for math, according to the most recent figures from U.S. News.
Editor’s Note: Shortly after this article was published, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that the proposal would not be adopted. The article has been updated to reflect that announcement.