Blackman High School Grading Policy
Rationale
Blackman High School is committed to providing our students with an educational program based on assessment practices that are rooted in educational research and that support student achievement. The primary objectives in our grading practices are to ensure the following:
• Grades in every course and content area are an accurate measure of academic achievement – and can only be fair and accurate if students complete all assignments.
• Equitable and consistent assessment measures support mastery of content.
• Students have a clear picture of and are actively involved in their progress toward college and career readiness.
Guiding Principles
• Blackman students must complete every assignment. The only fair way to assess any student is when all assignments are attempted. Students will be required to attend academic help session(s) if they have a missing assignment at any time during the school year.
• Grades should communicate a student’s mastery of standards and learning targets.
• Periodic common assessments will be collaboratively designed and utilized so that performance levels and grades are fair and consistent in synonymous courses.
• Behavior and effort will be reported in the comment section of a report card and should not be part of the academic grade.
• Well-planned instruction provides students with a clear understanding of teacher expectations through learning targets, rubrics, assessment criteria, and/or, when appropriate, student samples.
• Effective instruction includes frequent formative assessments with clear and understandable teacher feedback with opportunities to relearn and redo.
• Assessment of knowledge and skills should include multiple measures and a variety of evidence to accurately determine a student’s proficiency level.
• Grades will be updated in Skyward weekly (unless a paper or large assignment) in order to provide a clear representation of a student’s progress to the student and to the parent.
Calculation of Grades
Grades will be calculated on a total point system. The total amount of accumulated points will be divided by the total amount of total possible points for the grading period. A percentage grade is then calculated. A small assignment might be worth 10 points; a bigger assignment may be worth 50 points; and a large assignment may be worth 100 points.
Extra Credit
Points earned through extra credit have the potential to make a student’s grade an inaccurate measure of what the student has truly learned and mastered. In order to ensure correct, fair and consistent grading, extra credit may only be offered to students who have completed all assignments and only for standards-based work. Assignment of extra credit is determined by the individual teacher.
Failing Work
Blackman High School believes that all of our students can succeed. Myriad reasons may cause a student to perform at a lower level than expected on a given assessment. Thus, for any major assessment (worth 100 points or more) upon which the student scores under 60%, teachers may allow students to recover the grade, redo the test, take a different test, or correct assignments for credit. The procedures and amount of recovered credit/grade are determined by the Professional Learning Communities with (with Supervisor approval).
Missing Work
Blackman students complete all assignments. If a student fails to turn in an assignment, he/she will complete it for credit. Once a deadline has passed, teachers will deduct points per their classroom policy. Teacher will also set a final deadline for missing work but may NOT exceed one week prior to the end of a nine weeks period. Make-up Work Due to Absenteeism Missed work due to absenteeism must be made up for full credit within five (5) days of returning to school. Blackman High School follows Rutherford County policy on the credit received for the work.
STATE TEST SCORES ARE CALCULATED IN A STUDENT’S FINAL GRADE ACCORDING TO STATE AND RUTHERFORD COUNTY REQUIREMENTS. LIKEWISE, SEMESTER EXAMS ARE CALCULATED IN A STUDENT’S SEMESTER AVERAGE ACCORDING TO RUTHERFORD COUNTY REQUIREMENTS