626 Procedure: Educational Programs - Grading and Reporting Student Achievement
626 Procedure: Educational Programs - Grading and Reporting Student Achievement
I. Definitions
A. Formative Assessments: work conducted when a student is still learning the materials as part of academic practice. A formative assessment is designed to provide direction for both students and teachers. For students, feedback from the formative assessment may mean reviewing, additional practice, or confirmation that they are ready to move forward. For teachers, the feedback may mean changing instructional strategies, providing additional practice, or being ready to move forward. Examples of formative assessments include - teacher observation, quizzes, homework, rough drafts, peer editing, or notebook checks.
B. Modified Grading: grades that reflect a substantive change that alters the standard or the rigor of the standard.
C. Reporting: the communicating of a student’s achievement to the student and parents and/or guardians. This information may also become part of the student record.
D. Standard: a statement of what the student will be able to know, understand and be able to do.
E. Summative Assessments: work conducted when a student has had adequate instruction and practice to learn the content or skill. Summative assessments are designed to provide information to be used in making judgment about a student’s achievement at the end of a sequence of instruction. Examples of summative assessments include final drafts/attempts, tests, exams, assignments, projects, and performances.
II. Student academic grades will communicate academic achievement based on clearly-defined academic performance standards.
A. Course/grade-level standards will provide the basis for determining grades for each course and grade level.
B. Grades will be determined by comparing student work to grade-level standard (not by comparing to other students’ work).
C. Entries into a grade book will be organized in a way that clearly aligns student work to reporting standards.
D. The school district will provide students and/or their parents/guardians, on a regular basis, a report of student progress toward achieving required content standards and information on how to schedule counseling/advisory appointments to discuss the progress and learning opportunities available to the student. The Superintendent’s designee will determine the manner and method of providing such reports and information.
E. Parents/guardians may request progress reports, in addition to the periodic reports, by arrangement with the student’s teacher or counselor.
III. Academic achievement will be separated from all other non-academic behaviors when teachers assign student grades.
A. While recognizing that student collaboration is a key instructional strategy, grades must be based on individual, not group, achievement.
B. Non-academic behaviors such as responsibility, resourcefulness, communication, and problem solving will be communicated separately from achievement at the elementary level. Communication around non-academic behaviors at the secondary level may be reported through the following mechanisms: report card comments, mid-trimester reports, parent-teacher conferences, and individual communication from school staff directly to the parent/guardian. Attendance is reported separately at both the elementary and secondary sites.
C. In cases of academic dishonesty, students will still be required to complete the work or a reasonable alternative. Teachers and administrators will follow system procedure that will both deter and respond to incidents of academic dishonesty.
IV. Quality assessments and properly recorded evidence of achievement will be used when determining grades on student work.
A. Teachers will use formative and summative assessments that meet rigorous design criteria (e.g., clear targets, appropriate match of target and method, appropriate sampling, and lack of bias and distortion).
B. Teachers will use rubrics, assessment checklists, and other types of scoring guides to communicate expectations and to provide feedback on various types of student work (e.g., products, projects, and other performances).
C. Teachers will utilize district-determined procedures for marking students with “modified grading” status (Gifted Education/Special Education/English Language Learners/other students receiving significantly modified instruction).
D. Teachers will use common summative assessments based on grade-level or course-level standards.
V. Term grades will be determined in a manner that accurately represents students’ attainment of the standards and promotes student learning.
A. A minimum of 80% of the term grade will be determined by summative assessments, such as unit or course tests, performance tasks, projects, etc. The remaining percentage may include classwork, homework, and other formative assessment results.
B. Teacher professional judgment plays an important role in the grading process, including the responsibility to override computer-calculated grades when there is evidence that the calculated grade does not accurately represent the student’s attainment of the standards.
C. Students will be provided with multiple opportunities and multiple ways (within reasonable time limitations) to demonstrate what they know and understand.
D. Teachers will use a grading scale that reduces the disproportionate effect of zeroes and low Fs.
E. Students will have the opportunity to redo tasks tied to the standard to raise their grade, therefore extra credit will not be used.
VI. Teachers will involve students in the assessment and grading process throughout the learning cycle in an age-appropriate manner.
A. Teachers will ensure that students understand in advance how their grades will be determined.
B. Teachers will involve students in the assessment process, monitoring their progress, and communicating their achievement and progress to parents/families.
VII. Record Keeping
A. The school district will use the State-prescribed format for high school transcripts. High school student transcripts will include at least the following information:
1. The name of the high school course offering completed by the student;
2. The grade achieved in each high school course offering;
3. Date of completion of each high school course offering;
4. The number of credits earned for each course offering.
B. If a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP), or 504 Plan allows a modification or exemption for a standard, accomplishment of that standard will be recorded as PASS with no achievement score.
Created/Revised
Revised: 9/20/16
Created: 1/24/2012
Legal References
M.S. 123B.02, subd. 2 – General Powers of Independent School Districts
M.S. 123B.09, subd. 8 – Boards of Independent School Districts