Giving Compass' Take:

• A citywide education commission will potentially assign A-F grades to schools in Detroit but the system would rely heavily on measuring school improvement.

• What are the challenges with this type of grading system? What are the benefits for schools? 

• Read about why schools with failing state grades might be worth reconsidering. 

A new citywide education commission will soon start assigning A-F grades to every school in Detroit — the first time in years that schools in the city will get letter grades from a government entity.

The grades could, in theory, be used by the state or other authorities to make painful decisions about schools, including possible closures. They could also create problems for schools if Ds or Fs demoralize parents or make it harder for schools to recruit students and teachers.

But the city and school leaders designing the new system say they’ve structured the grades to give schools lots of credit for the work they’re doing to help students improve.  That means grades won’t simply brand schools as failing because their students are behind. And, unlike some grading systems in other states, they won’t end up largely measuring the economic backgrounds of students.

Many of the lawmakers behind the bill are calling for an A-F grading system that would apply to all Michigan schools, so a statewide proposal could eventually replace the one now being rolled out for Detroit.

But until that happens, Detroiters can demonstrate a model for grading that the state can consider, said Ralph Bland, a who leads the New Paradigm for Education charter network and serves on the committee that is designing the grades.

“If we’re looking at how to get momentum behind all schools and how to get change to happen,” he said, “then definitely making schools more accountable is the way to do it.”

Read the full article about Detroit school grading systems by Erin Einhorn at Chalkbeat