New Hampshire’s Governor Wentworth Regional School District ― a rural district with 10 schools ― has partnered with JumpRope for the past 12 years to support competency-based grading in grades K-8. Teachers and administrators find that JumpRope allows them to easily share student progress with students and families.
Challenge
Teachers Frustrated By Using Traditional Gradebook for Competency-Based Grading
Twelve years ago, grading in Governor Wentworth schools was manual and subjective. “Grading involved a lot of gut,” Assistant Superintendent Kaitlyn Hills explained. Teachers entered grades once per quarter into a Microsoft Excel report card template. Grades reflected academic performance, work habits, and even behavior.
By the time Hills stepped into the Director of Curriculum & Instruction role in 2013, the district had already begun piloting competency-based grading in 6th grade. Teachers were trying to use a traditional gradebook, but it was not able to support competency-based grading. For example, that platform did not allow teachers to align an assignment to multiple standards, so to do so, teachers had to create the same assignment in the platform multiple times ― a clunky and inefficient workaround.
Solution
District Implements Competency-Based Grading Successfully with JumpRope’s Support
Nearby Maine was further ahead in implementing competency-based grading, so Hills reached out to school districts there for platform recommendations. One district shared their success using JumpRope.
As soon as Hills contacted JumpRope, the experienced team set up demos and answered the district’s questions. “The process was very supportive,” said Hills.
Very quickly, it became clear that JumpRope had all the features that Governor Wentworth teachers and administrators wanted. “We liked what JumpRope offered, so we decided to move forward,” Hills explained. “And the rest is history.”
“You don’t stay with a platform for 12 years unless it’s working. That’s a testament to the fact that JumpRope works well.”
JumpRope provided in-person training sessions and shared best practices as the district decided how to set up the gradebook to meet their needs. “JumpRope really did help us move to competency-based grading,” said Hills.
Within months, teachers were comfortable using JumpRope. Standards-based grading requires more work from teachers because they must enter grades consistently. But they are happy to put in the work because JumpRope makes it so easy to share student progress with students and families.
Now, every teacher who comes into the district ― whether they are new to the district or to the profession ― is assigned a mentor team, which consists of teachers from multiple grade levels. Mentor teams provide ongoing support in many areas, including JumpRope. Teachers can also watch short “how to” videos on JumpRope that Hills created.
After piloting JumpRope in 6th grade for one year, the district rolled out JumpRope ― and competency-based grading ― to grades 4 and 5, then kindergarten, and finally to all grades K to 8.
Results
District is Still Happily Using JumpRope 12 Years Later
Twelve years later, JumpRope is still supporting all the K-8 students, teachers, and families at Governor Wentworth Regional School District.
“JumpRope is easy to use and allows teachers to manage competency-based grading in a way that is feasible and manageable, not overwhelming,” said Hills. Parents always know how their children are doing thanks to receiving printed progress reports on a regular basis; they can also access JumpRope online at any time.
Hills praised JumpRope’s willingness to take feature requests: “JumpRope has been very adaptive to our needs, and teachers have appreciated that they can request a feature. It doesn’t mean that every feature we recommend gets implemented, but it means a lot to teachers to know that they are being heard.”
“You don’t stay with a platform for 12 years unless it’s working,” Hills said. “That’s a testament to the fact that JumpRope works really well.”
