The Wright City R-II School Board at its November meeting unanimously approved a recommendation to study a new grade reporting system for kindergarten through fifth grades. The system would provide a more thorough report of student progress and needs, identifying specific skill areas in which children are underperforming as the basis for more concentrated attention. “In conversations with staff and with parents at district town hall meetings, we have been discussing the notion of moving beyond our historic grade system toward a standard Competency Based Education (CBE) method,” said Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines at the Nov. 15 meeting. “This type of system will allow teachers to help parents identify more specifically the skills their children need at their respective grade level and where they fall short,” he said. Key to the study and the idea of going to a new system, Gaines said, will be “defining what kids need to know at every grade level and what goes on the report card.” Gaines said that the district had been pursuing going to a skill-set oriented evaluation system earlier but that for some reason, that path “abruptly ended around 2005-2006.” The movement to Competency Based Education method throughout the nation is intended to focus on outcomes of learning, or skills and knowledge, that translate into students being able to apply understanding to tangible, everyday life situations. “Going to this method follows what we already are doing with Aimsweb and Discovery Assessment,” said Gaines. Aimsweb is an assessment system that informs the teaching and learning process by providing continuous student performance data and reporting improvement to student, parent, teacher and administrators. This deeper study and reporting of achievement data allows for earlier academic intervention, Gaines has said. The district’s Discovery Education Assessment program assesses student progress toward meeting state standards for reading, communications arts, math and science. Gaines told the board that the task force — which will include teachers and involve parents — will deliver a status report on its study in May, with full findings and recommendations due next November. He said the group will be expected to present its recommendations to a larger body of staff and parents before presenting its recommendations to the board.