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MPS Dumps Letter Grades for K-8

Milwaukee Public Schools is following a trend in education - moving away from traditional letter grades. 

Instead of giving students As, Bs, Cs, etcetera, teachers will give grades such as AD for advanced or MI for minimal. The change has just started in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Lila Hillman is principal at Milwaukee Parkside School for the Arts in Bay View.

She says the new system does not take into account behaviors that might hurt grades, such as failing do to homework.

"Do the students know the core standards? Not, did they not turn in their assignments? So you’re really judging what the students learned, rather than study habits and responsibility, while you still teach them that and we keep track of that, it’s not directly into the grading system," Hillman says.

Hillman says the new grading system more accurately measures students’ progress, and what they need to work on.