While establishing a grading framework for the high school, we based our findings on these ideas:

• Student grades need to more accurately reflect their progress towards mastery of content standards assigned to each class
• Student grades need to more accurately reflect what they know and what they can do
• Our grading framework needs to be weighted more on what students know, and less on activities that introduce new ideas or are based on practice work

Our grading framework therefore is centered around two different types of grades: formative/practice, and summative assessments.

PRACTICE ASSESSMENTS OF LEARNING:

These types of grades are based around student work that is generated when new ideas are being introduced.  These are ‘checks for understanding’ by the teacher to assess where a student is, while there is time to change instruction.  This type of student work is often teacher, parent, or partner assisted.  This is guided practice, or learning activities designed to help a student gain mastery of subject matter.

Types of activities: seat work, homework, practice, work sheets, note taking, rough drafts, rehearsals, group work, work with partners, class participation.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS OF LEARNING:

This is work that students do on their own that measures learning and knowledge the student can show at a specific date in time, or during a range of time.  Student work at this point is usually completed with no help from teachers, parents, partners, or groups.

Types of activities: weekly vocabulary quizzes, unit quizzes, chapter tests, final papers, speeches, projects, performances, presentations, oral exams.

The following guidelines will apply when assigning Tier levels to different classes:

• Classes offered by grade level (ex. English), or classes predominately made up of a certain grade level (ex. Health 2) will follow the Class levels on the chart from below.
• Departments with classes that have a wide variety of students from different grade levels (ex. Art, PE) in their classes will assign those classes with a Tier number.
• Honors classes move up one Tier, Intro classes move down one Tier

Each category (Practice and Summative Assessments) makes up a different percentage of a student’s overall grade for a class.

Guidelines:

• Teachers will offer a minimum of 16 Practice-type assignments per semester
• Teachers will offer a minimum of 3 Summative-type assessments per semester
  • For some summative-type assessments (chapter or unit exams, mid-term or final exams), students can choose to retake the assessment one time.  Before the student can retake a summative assessment:
    • Students must request a retest; Teachers assign the time for the retest;  retest must be completed within 10 school days of the original test.
    • Students must also have done something to show the Teacher they are ready for a retest: complete missing work, see the teacher during Teacher Access, come in for additional help, or something that shows the teacher that the student is ready for another test opportunity.
    • Teachers have the choice on whether to offer a retest for semester finals.
    • Weekly vocab type quizzes, final drafts of papers, speeches, baking a cake, MAX lifts in T&C, or other performance-based summative assessments do not automatically qualify for a retake.  Teachers can choose to offer retakes for these types of assessments.
• Grades will not be given for attendance, attitude or behavior
• No extra credit will be awarded to students
• In the teacher grade book, remember:
  • A zero given by a teacher means the student earned zero points on the assignment.
  • A MIS in the grade book means the assignment hasn’t been turned in, the student can still turn the assignment in for credit, but right now the student has zero points for the assignment.
  • An EXC in the grade book means that the student has been excused from the assignment, and it is not being counted against them.