Grading Policy Guide JHS 157
All Subjects 2019-2020
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,
Students’ grades are evaluative and descriptive tools that help communicate what the student has learned. Grades provide feedback to students as well as to parents/guardians on the student’s individual understanding of academic standards and progression through a subject. Grades are seen and interpreted by families, teachers, supervisors, and other stakeholders. When earned in a consistent, equitable, and transparent fashion, grades serve the following purposes:
- Demonstrate students’ level of understanding and skills in a subject at a specific point in time. Students and parents are encouraged to view student grades on a real-time basis by logging into their individual PupilPath accounts.
- Reveal areas of improvement and subjects still in need of support. Students that are not meeting proficiency (Grade of 65 or better) have several support opportunities available to them. Parents are asked to please contact their child’s guidance counselor.
- Inform teachers’ curricular, instructional, and organizational decisions. In this manner, grades are utilized to plan differentiated instruction for students.
- Identify which students need more assistance or differentiated learning.
- Indicate whether a student passed or failed a particular course or subject at the end of a term/Marking Period – we have four marking periods. In addition, students receive a mid-marking period progress report (See dates for report cards and mid-progress reports below).
- Contribute to decisions about students’ programming choices and post-secondary options.
- Influence promotion decisions, as well as the high school and college admissions process.
Alignment of rubric scores to Percentage scores
Level Score Percentage Score
1 55-64
2 65-79
3 80-89
4 90-100
Grading Policy is uniformed by Grade and Subject; Subject teachers will share the grading policy with students/parents/guardians at the start of each school year and upon request. The grading policy is consistent by grade and for each subject.
Summative Assessment Retakes, Revisions, and Test Corrections
Summative, or end-of-unit, assessments provide insight regarding student mastery of learning objectives, as well as readiness to move onto more challenging material. However, summative assessments provide learning opportunities in and of themselves. When students see their performance and teacher feedback on summative assessments, they understand which areas are still in need of improvement, which misconceptions linger, and which skills need fine-tuning. Teachers in major subject areas will allow students one opportunity to either retake, revise, or complete test corrections (teacher decision) on each end-of-unit assessment. Final grades on these assessments will reflect a student’s ultimate proficiency. Rather than taking the numerical average of the initial and second grades, teachers will consider which grade, or parts of the grades, is a more valid measurement of student achievement. In favor of multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of skills, standards, and content, extra credit points will not be offered.
Homework Policy
Homework is intended to support learning standards and classroom instruction. Besides offering the opportunity to preview or practice the standards and skills covered in the classroom, consistent completion of homework boost students’ confidence levels and fosters positive independent work habits. While not all homework assignments will receive a grade, parents should check homework every night to develop a more comprehensive picture of their children’s mastery of standards and to promote adherence to academic routines and structure.
Student Promotion
The decision to promote a student will be based on multiple measures of progress and performance in all subject areas, including student work, teacher observations, grades, and assessments. If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) your child will be held to the promotion criteria listed on the IEP. If your child is not promoted in June because the child has not met promotional criteria, your child will have the opportunity to attend summer school and continue to work toward meeting promotion criteria.
In 6th and 7th grades, not passing (65) 2 or more Core Subjects (ELA/SS/SCI/Math) will result in SITC support (summer school). In the 8th grade, not passing one Core Subject will results in SITC support.
Not meeting proficiency
- Students are considered not meeting proficiency if their subject average is below a 65.
- Students in our honors classes are considered not meeting proficiency with a subject grade below an 80.
- Make-up work – Students are given opportunity to make up work (lunch and learn/time extension on assignments, etc.), with considerations to individual circumstances. No make-up work will be accepted after the marking period has ended (excluding extenuating circumstances).
Each marking period students can achieve gold or silver honor roll based on their MP average as follows:
Silver Honor Roll- 85-91.99
Gold Honor Roll- 92-100
Students receiving an “N” or “U” in conduct are not eligible to earn Honor Roll for that MP
Course weight for average purposes (Based on frequency of sessions per cycle) ELA 1.00
Math 1.00
Science 1.00
Social Studies 1.00
ENL(ELA) 1.00
PE .25
Arts (Music/Chorus/Fine Art/STEM/Computer Science/Dance) .50
Foreign Language (Spanish) .50
Health P or F (no weight)
Classes that only meet 1 or 2 times per Cycle (health/6th grade STEM): P or F (no weight)
SETTS (P or F no weight)
Regents 8th Grade Algebra/Bio/US History 1.0 (Increased weight due to High School course work)
Levels and Numerical Alignment:
Level 4: Meeting Standards With Distinction – The student always demonstrates superior understanding of the content, concepts and skills for the learning standards and key ideas being assessed. For numerically graded tests, the student scores 95% or above.
Level 3: Meeting Standards – The student usually demonstrates an understanding of the content, concepts and skills for the learning standards and key ideas being assessed. For numerically graded tests, the student scores between 80% and 94%.
Level 2: Approaching Standards – The student sometimes demonstrates an understanding of the content, concepts and skills for the learning standards and key ideas being assessed. For numerically graded tests, the student scores between 65% -79%.
Level 1: Below Standards – The student rarely demonstrates an understanding of the content, concepts and skills for the learning standards and key idea (50%-64%)
