LAUSD Grades

* Re “L.A. Unified to Use Numbers for Grading in Elementary Schools,” Oct. 6: Can someone explain how switching from a five-part alphabetic grading system to a four-part numeric system is a “more precise gauge of academic progress”?

With that kind of logic, they should switch to a two-part pass-fail grade, or even to no grade at all, which would be the ultimate mark of academic achievement. The administration members who put forth this new policy get a “1--not proficient” on this one.

KENNETH H. GOLDMAN

La Crescenta

* In your article, a school district official is quoted as saying, “With a four-point scale, either they do or they don’t. It’s much more precise.”

But we are also told that a grade of 2 means “partially proficient,” or partly meeting the standards. If one is partly proficient, one is also partly not proficient; kids who get grades of 2 sometimes meet the standards and sometimes do not. Or, to put it another way, “either they do or they don’t.”

Am I missing something?

KATHARINA SMITH

Canoga Park