grading+pilot

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=Grading Pilot Grading Procedure Pilot for 09‐10= =Page 1 **GRADING PROCEDURE PILOT for 2009-2010 SCHOOL YEAR **=  Some teachers will be piloting a number of grading procedures this year which we believe will provide greater support for increased student learning. The language below outlines the pilot, which is an expansion of the language found in the Student/Parent Handbook in Section 3.2 – "Grading and Reporting." Your teacher will inform you if he/she is using this pilot. We hope to see an increase in learning as a result.  3.2 GRADING AND REPORTING Standards-Based Assessment  In a Standards-Based Assessment structure, evaluations are based on performance levels of core competencies. A core competency is predefined knowledge or skills a student must attain in order to pass the course. Final grades reflect the degree to which students have mastered the core competencies. As of the fall 2008 all New Hampshire schools are required to use core competencies; therefore, CHS is at the forefront of this educational initiative.  Grading with Core Competencies  Courses at CHS have between two and five competencies per semester. Core competencies for multiple section classes are the same, even when there are different teachers. If a student fails one or more of the core competencies in a course, he or she fails the course.  Multiple Opportunities  Students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate a competent performance level of core competencies. There are a minimum of four of these opportunities per competency/per semester. These are major assessments OF learning, such as tests, certain quizzes and homework assignments, projects (including research papers), performances (including oral presentations) and/or products (including essays and labs). These are known as summative assessments and account for no less than 80% of the term’s grade. Under certain circumstances re-takes of summative assessments are permitted. See below for explanation. Daily work, certain assignments and quizzes, and homework for reinforcement purposes are assessments FOR learning. These are known as formative assessments and account for no more than 20% of the term’s grade. Multiple opportunities do not apply to formative assessments.  Formative Assessments FOR Learning (No more than 20% of final grade) In order for a teacher to measure student attainment of learning goals, formative assessments often precede summative assessments, such as tests. Based on the results of the formative assessment, students who have not yet attained competency of the learning goal(s) are often engaged with "corrective" activities to help them correct their errors and remedy their learning problems. At the same time, students who demonstrate they’ve learned the concepts well may be provided with special "enrichment" activities to broaden and extend their learning experience.  Summative Assessments OF Learning (No less than 80% of final grade) Summative assessments are larger assessments used in mastery learning to gather cumulative information on students’ learning in order to **__certify competence and assign grades __**. Summative assessments tend to be broader in scope and usually cover a larger portion of the course than do the individual formative assessments.  Re-Takes  Re-takes are part of the provision of multiple opportunities for demonstrating competency. Students learn at different rates, and re-takes allow students a second chance to demonstrate competency on summative assessments. The date and time of the retake are at the discretion of the teacher and the teacher may require some form of corrective action prior to administration of the re-take. Corrective action may take several forms as determined by the teacher. For example, the student, with the teacher’s assistance and guidance, may be required to create a completion calendar, outlining what and when corrective work Grading Procedure Pilot for 09‐10 Page 2 will be done. A completion calendar is often used with projects and other multi-step summative assignments. Another example is the student may be required to undertake a plan of study that will enable him/her to improve their performance the second time around. The plan may include a post-test analysis of their performance. Through their analysis, students examine and explain what they did incorrectly and describe what they would do differently the next time they are assessed on the material. To complete their post-test analysis they are allowed to use the teacher (strongly encouraged), the book, notes, or and any other sources they wish. Yet another example of a corrective action is simply an afterschool review session. However, it must be clearly understood that **<span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">a request for a re-take will not be considered if no work was originally submitted on time OR no corrective action is completed **<span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">. Re-takes cannot serve as an excuse to ignore deadlines or serve as an advance preview of the test. That would be inherently unfair to everyone else. The decision to disallow a re-take will made by the teacher using the guidelines listed above. Put simply, if a student fails to turn work in on the deadline or do a corrective action, they forfeit the chance for a re-take. When making a request for a re-take the student will staple the request to the original work. The teacher will set the date by which the re-take will happen or the redone work is to be submitted. If the student fails to attend the re-take opportunity or meet the deadline for submission of the revised work, the original grade becomes permanent. In any event, the re-take must be done within ten school days of the return of the assessment to the student. After the ten day window, no re-takes are allowed. Teachers reserve the right to give alternative versions of the assessment. Only one re-take per assessment is allowed. The higher of the two grades, the original and the re-take, will be recorded. Students staple or attach the original task or assessment and re-take request to the redone version. <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;"> Final Grades <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;"> A student must earn a grade of at least 65% in each competency in order to pass the course. If a student fails one or more of the core competencies in a course, he or she fails the course. Some courses are offered in summer school. In order to be eligible for summer school, a student must earn a final grade at least a 50%, or passed half of the core competencies of the course. Eligible students attending summer school are only required to master the core competencies they failed. <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">

Performance Levels <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;"> Student achievement will be recorded on transcripts in the form of letter grades:
 * = A = Distinguished ||= B = Advanced ||= C = Competent ||= D = Limited ||= F = Failure ||
 * = A+ = 97-100 ||= B+ = 87-89 ||= C+ = 77-79 ||= D = 65 – 69 ||= F = Below 65 ||
 * = A = 93-96 ||= B = 83-86 ||= C = 73-76 ||=  ||=   ||
 * = A- = 90-92 ||= B- = 80-82 ||= C- = 70-72 ||=  ||=   ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;"> Grade Point Average <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;"> G.P.A.’s will be printed on transcripts according to the following traditional scale:


 * A+ = 4.33 || B+ = 3.33 || C+ = 2.33 || D = 1.0 ||
 * A = 4.0 || B = 3.0 || C = 2.0 || F = 0 ||
 * A- = 3.67 || B- = 2.67 || C- = 1.67 ||  ||

Incomplete (I) <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;"> A student may be eligible for an Incomplete (I) grade if:

1. the student has missed school repeatedly during that marking period due to illness or for other administratively excused absences;

2. considerations put forth in his or her IEP or 504 plan warrant such action;

3. the CHAT team determines a grade of Incomplete is reasonable. Incomplete grades must be rectified within three weeks of the close of the marking period.