New York City is getting rid of letter grades as a way to evaluate schools.
In a speech at a Brooklyn school Wednesday, Chancellor Carmen Farina noted children learn and display knowledge in different ways, adding schools have qualities that can't be reduced to a letter grade.
"They are not restaurants," Farina said, referring to the Department of Health program that gives letter grades to city restaurants.
She said the new accountability system would focus on trust, collaboration, family engagement, strong leadership, rigorous instruction and other issues,
The Wall Street Journal reports.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has been a critic of the letter grade system used under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, charging it's too focused on tests, and can be misleading, The Journal notes.
In contrast, the new system will include information from a formal school visit, feedback from parents and a variety of achievement measures, The Journal reports.
"This is a new era of support and collaboration," Farina said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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