Carson City School District is proposing to lower the threshold it uses to define elementary student “mastery” from 80% to 75%, part of a broader rewrite of grading and parent communication rules that district officials say will bring written policies more closely in line with current practices.
The proposed changes to Policy and Regulation 513, Reporting Student Progress, received their first reading before the Board of Trustees Aug. 11. They will return for a final vote this Tuesday.
Under the current policy, earning 80% or higher on a standard or learning target can constitute mastery for students districtwide.
The proposed policy would retain the 80% threshold for middle and high school students while lowering it to 75% for elementary students.
Chief Academic Officer Brandon Bringhurst told trustees the change came out of the district’s transition to Infinite Campus for elementary grading and a broader review of grading practices.
“The only change that we are recommending in the board policy 513 … is changing the percentage that we would consider proficient or at standard,” Bringhurst said.
He said elementary principals and instructional coaches felt 75% “would be more reflective of proficiency for students and is more developmentally appropriate for those at the elementary level.”
How ‘mastery’ is defined
Exactly how the new percentage threshold relates to the district’s elementary standards-based grading system, however, is less apparent from the written documents.
There is currently no information publicly available for what the “mastery” designation is used for, as state scores on proficiency come from standardized testing, but the district has not responded to questions requesting additional clarity for the public.
CCSD is also proposing to formally expand the elementary grading scale described in Regulation 513.
The existing written regulation describes scores of 1, 2 and 3. Bringhurst told trustees elementary schools have actually been using scores ranging from 1 to 4, including half-point intervals of 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5.
Under the proposed regulation, a score of 3 means a student “successfully demonstrates proficiency,” while a 4 means the student demonstrates advanced knowledge and skills and fully meets or exceeds expectations.
During board questioning, Trustee Becca Roberts asked how the four-point scale computes into the proposed 75% mastery threshold.
Bringhurst said, “75% would be the three and then 3.5 is 85% and a four would be 92%. That’s how those percentages break down.”
He added that the existence of a 3.5 at the elementary level was “a part of the reason for that 75.”
The proposed written policy, however, does not contain those percentage conversions.
Instead, Policy 513 says the district defines mastery in two different ways: one through percent correct and another through a standards- or learning-target-aligned rubric.
Under the proposed first method, elementary students demonstrate mastery by earning 80% (or, if approved, the new 75%) or higher on a standard or learning target. The second allows students to demonstrate mastery through an aligned rubric (1-3 or the proposed 1-4).
The policy itself does not state that a rubric score of 3 mathematically equals 75%, nor does it include the 85% and 92% equivalents Bringhurst described during the meeting.
Carson Now asked the district for clarification on how the two systems interact, including whether percentage scores are converted to the 1-to-4 scale or are instead separate measurements.
Carson Now also asked what the district’s “mastery” designation is used for in practice — including whether it affects report cards, parent communication, intervention decisions under the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Support, or internal academic reporting — and how the previous 80% threshold related to the former written 1-to-3 scale.
The district was also asked for additional explanation of why 75%, rather than 80%, was determined to more accurately represent mastery for elementary students.
CCSD has not responded.
Written grading rules already differ from practice
The four-point scale is also one of several areas in which Bringhurst told trustees the district’s written regulation does not currently match what schools have already been doing.
“What had been in the regulation was just one, two and three,” Bringhurst said. “As those of you who might have elementary-age students know, we have been doing one, 1.5, two, three and fours, but that was not in the regulation.”
He cited that discrepancy as part of the reason Regulation 513 needs to be updated.
Later, when Board President Molly Walt asked how the district would communicate the proposed grading changes to families, Bringhurst said he would work with elementary principals on a consistent message.
He also noted that parents may not experience all of the proposed revisions as new.
“I think a lot of our elementary grading has already been following these one through four, so I don’t know that some of the parents won’t necessarily see it as a change,” Bringhurst said. “We’re really getting the regulation to more closely reflect our … practice.”
Weekly folder requirement would be eliminated
That same issue emerged more explicitly during discussion of how schools communicate student progress to families.
The existing Regulation 513 requires kindergarten through fifth-grade students to take home a folder (known colloquially as a “peachy” or “peechee” folder) every week containing their conduct grade, completed and graded work such as tests and assignments, the school newsletter, special schedules and information about important school events.
The proposed regulation removes that requirement and replaces it with a broader sentence:
“Regular communication regarding student progress will occur through the District’s approved electronic methods.”
Bringhurst said teachers and administrators now rely heavily on ParentSquare and that the district wanted to “modernize” the regulation without naming a particular electronic platform that could later change.
Walt asked how parents would be informed about the change, specifically identifying the 75% mastery standard, the expanded grading scale and elimination of weekly folders.
Bringhurst said the district would develop a consistent communication plan with elementary principals.
Trustee Lupe Ramirez later asked whether families accustomed to receiving the weekly folder would receive a paper notice informing them that it was being discontinued.
Bringhurst said the district should notify those families through both paper and electronic communication.
Only afterward when asked directly about the fact that the weekly-folder practice had already stopped years ago did Bringhurst confirm this to be the case despite agreeing that the district would work to communicate the change to families.
Trustee Richard Varner asked whether the folders had already not been regularly sent home for several years.
“That’s correct,” Bringhurst said. “I think those being sent home has not been consistently done for a few years.”
The written regulation requiring those weekly folders remains in effect while the revisions are under consideration.
The proposed amendment would therefore formally remove a requirement Bringhurst said schools have already not been consistently carrying out for several years.
Carson Now asked the district when the weekly-folder practice changed and whether parents using the district’s electronic systems can access the same type of detailed graded work required under the existing regulation.
For example, the district was asked whether the parent of a student receiving 6 out of 10 on a spelling test can see which four words were spelled incorrectly — and the correct answers — so the family can work on those areas at home, rather than seeing only an overall grade.
Families with current CCSD students asked stated that they cannot see individual assignments, only their final grades.
The district has not responded.
Specific remediation notice replaced with MTSS language
A second communication change would affect parents whose children need additional academic support.
The existing Regulation 513 says parents or guardians of K-12 students needing remediation will receive a progress report “no later than the first month of instruction or after the first or second Measurable Unit of Instruction.”
The existing rule also directs staff to provide interventions and assistance and “maintain contact with parents and guardians on the progress of their student.”
The proposed version removes those specific requirements and instead states:
“For students in need of remediation, parents and guardians of K-12 students will receive communication in accordance with our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) practices.”
The proposed sentence does not itself establish a notification deadline or describe the communication steps contained in those MTSS practices.
Bringhurst told trustees those intervention procedures are addressed in greater detail through the district’s MTSS model.
“It specified some methods of communication when students are receiving intervention, and that is really spelled out in more detail in our MTSS, or multi-tiered system of support practices,” Bringhurst said.
He said the district wanted to avoid having “different practices in two different places.”
However, CCSD’s specific MTSS parent-notification procedures were not included with the proposed regulation in the Aug. 11 board packet.
Carson Now asked the district to provide or identify the MTSS procedures that would govern parent communication under the new language, including what steps would replace the existing first-month or measurable-unit notification requirement.
The district has not responded.
Nevada’s MTSS guidance describes the system broadly as a framework for identifying student needs and providing increasingly intensive levels of academic, behavioral and social-emotional support.
What remains unanswered is the more specific question created by CCSD’s proposed regulation: what its own MTSS practices require schools to tell parents, and when, once the existing notification timeline is removed.
Policy changes remain under consideration
Other portions of Regulation 513 would continue to require official K-5 progress reports at the end of the first, second and third quarters and a final report card at the end of the school year.
The regulation also retains expectations that teachers communicate with parents or guardians when students show academic difficulties that could result in failure.
Trustees separately discussed whether Policy 513 should more clearly define its requirement that grades “timely.”
Bringhurst agreed timely grading is important for parents and students to know where a child stands, but said the appropriate turnaround can vary depending on the type of assignment.
He said he would review whether the policy could better specify the expectation.
Policy and Regulation 513 will return to trustees for final consideration Tuesday.
