Grading Reform: Part 3

I have written previously on our work to develop common beliefs about grading and reporting in our school district. I believe we are making some nice progress in designing a more consistent grading process. Our latest meeting focused on developing beliefs about creating second chances for learning and grade reduction/enhancement practices. As mentioned in previous blogs, we've read several journal articles about best practices in grading and reporting. You can find the articles here and here. We used these research articles to help inform our decision making.

Here is what we came up with:

Second Chance for Learning

• Re-dos and re-takes are available to students
• Students are responsible for asking for a second chance
• Corrective instruction, additional practice, etc. must occur prior to the re-assessment
• Full credit should be given for any re-assessment
• The most recent/accurate score will be used for grading purposes

Grade Reduction and Enhancement

• Zeroes should not be permanent (students should be given the opportunity to turn in missing work for full credit)
• Deadlines prior to the end of each grading term are at the discretion of the teacher
• Teachers may make use of incompletes at the end of grading terms under special circumstances (i.e. student illness or hardship)
• Teachers are strongly encouraged to enter zeroes in a timely manner
• Late work should be accepted in most circumstances and penalties shouldn’t significantly decrease the grade
• Students who demonstrate habitual behavior in work habits may be given a “U” by the teacher
• Grades will not be based on a curve
• Bonus points or extra credit falsely inflate the grade and should not be used

The full document can be found here: RPSD Standards-based Learning Practices