Brandywine School District

Secondary Grading Practices for Staff

 The Brandywine School District Grading Guidelines are a result of two years of collaboration with a committee of key secondary educators and administrators. The Secondary Grade Reporting Committee members are Heather Austin, Kelli Bradley, Stephanie DeMayo, James Fitzhugh, Michelle Kutch, Jeanmarie Leonard, Tammy McDermott, Michele Porter, Sugely Solano, Patty Staker, Lisa Street, Melinda Tartaglione, Brent Thorpe, Tracy Woodson. These grading practices are designed to establish consistency across the district when communicating students’ achievement of the State Standards. 

Grading Practices

1. Teachers will record all grades in eSchool (posting to Home Access Center)

    

2. The 10-point grading scale will be used for grading students’ work.

   A= 90-100

   B= 80-89

   C= 70-79

   D= 60-69

   F= 59 and below

    

   3. Beginning in the year 2017-18, teachers will enter grades into eSchool as formative or summative measures. Weighting will be as follows:

   Formative: 30%

   Summative: 70%

    

   Formative Assignments should be frequent and ongoing, completed en route to mastery. This would include work that is considered practice and leads up to the students being able to demonstrate their level of mastery. These assignments are checkpoints on students’ progress and provide the opportunity for teacher feedback, identify any problems with understanding and aid students in meeting or exceeding the standards. Examples of these assignments may include but are not limited to: quizzes, drafts of writing, homework (graded for understanding), classwork practice worksheets, questions at the end of a reading, graphic organizers, and anything in the early stages of learning concepts/content.

    

   Summative Assignments are completed after sufficient instruction, practice and feedback are given, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of essential understandings. This category may include but is not limited to: tests, common district assessments, projects, quizzes, quarterly assessments, performance tasks, research papers, labs, projects started in class but finished at home, as long as formative feedback has been given.

    

   Administrators, Departments Chairs, and PLCs will discuss and assist teachers in determining whether students’ assignments are summative or formative in nature. Grades should be sufficient in number and category (quizzes, tests, projects, etc.) to reflect an accurate measure of students’ progress towards mastery. Teachers will provide accurate, specific and relevant feedback on multiple assignments. There must be a minimum of three summative assessments in each marking period. Grades will be based on evidence of what the student know and are able to do per the State Standards.

    

   Qualities of a Learner such as behavior, participation, effort and attitude will not be factored into grades. The comments section on the Report Card is now replaced by the Qualities of a Learner rubric, which measures qualities such as effort and homework completion. This rubric should be reviewed with students at numerous times during the year and teachers should assume students are a 3 unless they are inconsistent/always late, etc.

    

   Teachers will inform students and parents of how grades will be determined in a particular class. This will include the weight of each component of the academic work carries, an outline of grading criteria, procedures for redoing work for credit, and rubrics used for major assignments. The communication will take place in class, at open house, at parent conferences, via Schoology, email and/or sent home.

    

   Recent Updates 2016-17 and Beyond

• The letter grade will now be determined from evidence using students’ “products”, such as tests, quizzes and projects and will still be used to determine course credit and GPA.

• The comments section has been changed to now reflect “process skills” (Qualities of a Learner) such as Self-directed Learner, Quality Producer, Collaborative Worker and Respectful Citizen. These are things such as effort, timeliness and being a good citizen.

• The free text section below each course allows teachers to type in student-specific comments.

   

  Frequently Asked Questions

Why and how were current Secondary Grading Practices developed? Historically, grading practices have varied widely among public schools. These varied practices created obstacles in the learning process and in students’ motivation to learn. Our district-wide Secondary Grading Committee, comprised of staff and administrators, worked to ensure that the grades assigned to students in grades 6-12 would be consistent, accurate, meaningful, and supportive of learning. Grading was identified as a focus for four reasons: 1) to better link grading and reporting practices to other BSD curricular, instructional, and assessment philosophies; 2) to address the need for consistent grading practices across our 6-12th grade levels and courses; 3) to establish a grade reporting system that is more accurate of measuring students’ evidence of what they know and can do; and 4) to align our grading with current research and best practices.

What are the New Secondary Grading Practices? Grades in core content areas will be defined by two categories:

1. Summative. These grades will comprise 70% of students’ grade averages in the course (this category will include tests, common unit assessments, projects, performances, and presentations). 


2. Formative. These grades will comprise 30% of students’ grade average in the course (this category will include quizzes, formative assessments, homework, and classwork tasks.) 


   No grades shall be awarded to students for participation or for work completion. Grades shall only be determined based on the mastery of the standards within the assignment, assessment or task.

   Why are summative scores weighted heavier than formative scores? Summative scores are generally a reflection of a more comprehensive set of information requiring more recall and a deeper understanding of the concepts because of the level of thinking and learning that is being assessed. Also, in most cases, summative assessments are performed individually and without support resources to reference during the answering of questions. This does not include supports, accommodations or modifications required by students’ IEPs or 504 Plans. The updated guidelines provide teachers with a more accurate assessment of students’ performance and mastery of standards.

   Why are these grading practices a better reflection of students learning? In a grading system where formative assignments are valued the same as summative assignments in the calculation of the final grade, students could receive high grades on formative assignments that were performed in groups and/or with assistance from students and teachers, which may cloud the teacher’s ability to judge whether students have mastered the targeted standards. The students’ overall grades may not be an actual representation of their understanding of the concepts and subject. These guidelines provide teachers, parents, and students with a more accurate assessment of students’ performance.

   What are legitimate purposes for grading students’ work?

   Purposes for grading students’ work include but are not limited to:

•                     –  Providing feedback on learning and achievement to students, parents, and teachers 


•                     –  Providing information that students can use for self-evaluation and growth 


•                     –  Encouraging students growth and progress in learning 


•                     –  Identifying students for available educational opportunities such as courses or programs

•                     –  Evaluating the effectiveness of curricular, instructional, and assessment practice

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• How do the secondary grading and reporting practices more accurately reflect student achievement? Grades will more accurately reflect what students know, understand, and how they apply learning in meaningful ways. Grades will be based primarily on various assessments and performance tasks, which reflect larger experiences of learning. Also, when a score accurately reflects students’ knowledge and skills, areas of needs can be detected so the students can get extra help or interventions in these targeted areas.

  How will students who are identified as English language learners (ELLs) be graded? 

  Teachers should consult with their school ELL teacher/tutor to discuss grading criteria for ELLs. ELLs with a language proficiency level between 1 and 3 will initially have difficulty demonstrating their progress towards content standards in English and should be provided appropriate modifications by their classroom teachers and the ELL teacher/tutor in the school and should be assigned a grading score of S for satisfactory or U for unsatisfactory until they are able to show work. This includes ELLs who are considered a “newcomer” with a language proficiency level below 2. ELLs who have a WIDA access test score of 3 or above shall be graded the same as other students but may need modifications provided by classroom teachers or ELL staff. Use the English Language Learner application under DSC to access your student’s language proficiency level and ELL related history. A grading guide is available in Schoology under the BSD Grade Reporting Resources and Updates.

   

Can I grade homework? Yes but…homework is traditionally assigned for practice or reinforcement of concepts/skills learned or introduced in class. They are considered formative in nature. These types of assignments should not be scored in such a way that it could cause students to fail if measured by mastery. Homework that is checked for completion only should not be graded but be considered when determining students’ Qualities of a Learner. By way of contrast, assignments that have already received feedback from the teacher or have been started in class and received guidance and students were told to finish it at home could be scored more for mastery (projects, final drafts, lab reports, etc.) are NOT considered homework or a formative assignment. Departments should be having discussions in department meetings or in PLCs with administrators, to determine what forms of student evidence would count for a formative assignment or a summative assignment.

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  How should I “count” assignments? What form of student evidence are you using to provide feedback towards mastery and diagnosing areas of need (formative)? What form of student evidence are you using to determine mastery and achievement (summative)? How are you reassessing students after you have been providing feedback? These questions will help you determine the appropriate “weight” for a grade.

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  Reminders regarding Report Card FAQs

   

  Will I need to enter a score for each of the Qualities of a Learner (Learner, Producer, Worker, and Citizen)?  Yes. Each category requires a score from the drop down menu in eSchool of a 1, 2, or 3 and the rubric is available.

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  Should I share the Qualities of a Learner Rubric with the students? Yes! Please share this rubric with students as a frequent reminder. During each marking period students should understand that they will be held accountable for these qualities every marking period and it will be specifically reported out on their report card.

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  What if one of the comments I previously used is not part of the rubric or really not representative of what I want to share with a parent? There is a limited amount of free text that can be used for this purpose. A teacher can physically type in a comment that will be seen in the free text portion of the report card (found under your listed course) especially with regards to areas of concern.

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  How do I know what score point to use if students fall into more than one Qualities of a Learner criteria? If students exhibit the characteristics found in one of the criteria, then that score point will be used. There is no need to use a formal tracking process. The rubric is printed on the back of the report card for parents to view. Teachers can provide a typed comment found under their course that will better clarify any areas of concern. This will be part of the professional development to better develop consistent scoring.

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  Do I need to keep specific track of each of the Qualities of a Learner in a record keeping format? No. The rubric is pretty clear on how to determine a score for each of the qualities and should be used as a communication tool to parents and students. For example, if students are inconsistently handing in homework over the course of a marking period, you may assign a 2 for Quality Producer. You can quickly review your grade-book to make that determination. If students are constantly spoken to for their behavior towards others in class, they may be assigned a 1 for Respectful Citizen. If a parent contacts you for more information concerning their child, it is a wonderful opportunity for you to discuss concerns and strategies to work together for success.

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Glossary of Terms

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• Qualities of a Learner – Behaviors, study skills and work habits that contribute to learning but are not included in an achievement grade.

  Process skills – Criteria of skills that are associated with Qualities of a Learner (work completion, punctuality, organization, class participation).

  Product – Criteria that is associated with academic performance (evidence from assessments and assignments; i.e. projects, tests, lab reports).

  Philosophy of the Report Card - The primary goal of grade reporting is to communicate with parents and students about students’ progress in demonstrating achievement of the State Standards (letter grade) and effort invested in the learning process (Qualities of a Learner) for each marking period.

  Formative Assignments/Assessments - frequent and ongoing, completed enroute to mastery. This would include work that is considered practice and leads up students being able to show what they have learned. It includes feedback to students to improve their learning. They are checkpoints on students’ progress and provide opportunities for teacher feedback, diagnose any concerns and be able to aid students to meet or exceed the standards. Examples of these assignments may include but are not limited to; quizzes, drafts of writing, homework (graded for understanding), classwork practice worksheets, questions at the end of a reading, graphic organizers, and anything in the early stages of learning concepts/content.

  Summative Assignments/Assessments - are completed after the learning experiences, usually requiring students to demonstrate mastery of essential understandings after sufficient instruction, practice and feedback is given. This category may include tests, common district assessments, projects, quizzes, quarterly assessments, performance tasks, research papers, labs, and projects started in class but finished at home, as long as formative feedback has been given.

Adapted from McKinney Independent School District Divison of Learner Support

Secondary Grading Guidelines. McKinney Independent School District, 7 Oct. 2011,

www.mckinneyisd.net/departments/services/secondary_grading/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.

Assignment and Assessment Types