WORCESTER—A proposed mastery-based grading system will finally go before the Worcester School Committee after passing the district’s Standing Committee on Finance, Operations, and Governance (FOG), following a previously divided vote that had stalled its progress.
FOG — comprised of four school committee members — met on Aug. 5 and unanimously approved sending the plan to the full committee for broader discussion on Aug. 14.
If approved, the new grading system would be introduced in the high schools this fall, with a goal of expanding to the middle schools in 2026. The proposal follows two years of research, collaboration, and trial periods in classrooms involving about 30 educators from across Worcester’s schools.
The system focuses on mastery of subject material and gives students opportunities to retake tests and assignments to improve their scores.
FOG first discussed the plan in July but deadlocked in a 2-2 vote, which prevented it from advancing to the full School Committee at that time.
The proposal gained traction this month after Magdalena Gainas, the district’s Director of Compliance & School Improvement, addressed the committee’s lingering questions. These ranged from how the change would affect college admissions to how the system would be implemented and evaluated in its first year.
In her presentation, Gainas reiterated many of the advantages highlighted by the administration in July. She explained that the system would foster collaboration between teachers and students and offer a more accurate picture of a student’s understanding of course content.
“The teachers should be having ongoing feedback conversations with the students,” Gainas said, “so that if they do not master those standards, they’re given an opportunity to look at the material again and another opportunity to master it.”
Under the proposed model, students would continue to receive traditional letter grades, but how those grades are calculated would change. A July presentation used a real-life example to show how the current system can distort final grades: one poor assignment brought a high-achieving student’s average down to 79% — the same as a student whose test and assignment average was in the high 70s.
The proposed system would weight major and minor assignments more transparently and allow students to redo work. The higher score would replace the original, reflecting the student’s actual grasp of the material.
Some critics have raised concerns about the plan’s reliance on buy-in from both teachers and students, and about its potential impact on those already doing well under the current system. But supporters argue that strong students can still succeed, while those who initially struggle would have more chances to improve and truly learn the material.
Despite initial reservations, FOG members made it clear they were more comfortable with the plan after Monday’s meeting. Chair Molly McCullough voiced her support for what the format could achieve.
“It’s not taking away autonomy, but it’s creating consistency, which is something I think almost every member of this committee has been asking for in different areas for a long time,” McCullough said. “When we talk about vision of a learner, this is from vision to action, and this is how we’re actually putting the steps of our strategic plan and our vision of a learner into place.”
Though the subcommittee voted to advance the proposal, it included a few stipulations. A survey of teachers is planned for the middle of the school year, and motions in the vote requested that a diverse group of educators, schools, and subjects be represented in the data. The full committee also asked to be updated on how the rollout, training, and preparation will be handled for this school year and beyond.
