During this parent coffee, parents had the opportunity to explore, discuss, and deepen their understanding of the high school's grading philosophy and policy.

High School Grading Philosophy

• The SAS faculty worked directly with Dr. Doug Reeves, a world-leading professional in assessment and reporting. 
• SAS believes that grades should signify consistent demonstration of proficiency against the targeted standard. Broken down, it means where is the student currently in that skill?
• Grades in one course section should be calculated the same way across all course sections. PLC teams determine how grades are to be calculated. The calculation methodology will be shared at the beginning of the semester through the course syllabus.

Factors in a traditional grading system:

• Averages
• Behavior
• Punctuality
• Extra credit
• Median scores
• Compliance with instructions
• Weighted scores
• Participation
• Effort
• Homework
• Lowest scores
• Academic performance - this is the one where teachers want to provide accurate feedback to the students

Ken O’Connor’s 15 Fixes

• Do not include student behavior in the calculation of the grade, as it reduces the accuracy of a grade as a reflection of student’s proficiency
• Do not reduce marks on work that has been submitted late, give support to the student
• Do not give points for extra credit, as it reduces the accuracy of a grade as a reflection of student’s proficiency. Applying extra credit points is counterproductive to your aim.
• Do not punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades
• Do not consider attendance in the calculation of grades
• Do not include group scores in grades, only individual achievement evidence
• Organize and report evidence by standards or learning goals
• Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards
• Compare each student’s performance to preset standards
• Rely only on quality assessments
• Consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment
• Don’t include zeros in grade determination
• Only use summative evidence
• Emphasize more recent achievements
• Don’t leave students out of the grading process

High School Grading Policy

• All PLC teams agree to a set of standards in the grading policy, and it’s consistent across the PLC team
• Teachers teaching the same course may approach things differently
• Grade on a 9-point scale rather than a 100-point scale (A+ is a nine, F is a one)
• Advance studies courses get a ‘grade bump’ by half a letter grade due to the extra work and added rigor

Definitions

• Grade: Overall letter grade that appears for a course and on the transcripts
• Score: Individual scores make up the overall course grade
• Formative Assessments: Common with the PLC team, it provides feedback that is fair, accurate, specific, and timely. It provides students with feedback that will result in action towards bettering their scores. It is recorded in PowerSchool to ensure the students understand where they are currently with grades. Formatives are used by the PLC to determine which areas need to be retaught or gone over.
• Summative Assessments: Common with the PLC team, it assesses the most important learning standards. Group projects are always reported as individual scores and not collective scores. They are used by the PLC teams to determine if the students are hitting the mark and the standards that were taught in the unit. Summative grades are the ones that are emphasized in the final grade calculation.
• Exemplary:The student demonstrates higher-level thinking skills, flexible application of targeted concepts and skills, or transference of learning to new situations.

Target Diagram:

Tight Grading Policies

• PLC teams should emphasize summative results when calculating final grades. Formatives will not be weighted.
• Feedback for students and parents should be F.A.S.T (Fair, Accurate, Specific, Timely). PowerSchool is to be updated at least every two weeks.
• There is no bell-curve. The scores and the grades are assigned by comparing individual performance to clearly defined learning targets.
• PLC teams make decisions about late work and assessments
• The homework is clear.
• The final exams are between 15 and 25 percent.
• There is no extra credit.
• Academic dishonesty is an offense that is taken seriously at the school.
• There is a maximum number of summative assessments that can be taken in a day (two). If there are more, then the student should approach the teacher who assigned the summative the lastest to take it on a different day.
• More than nine absences in a semester for the given course results in a loss of the course credit.