Grading Guidelines for Secondary Schools

Secondary Grading Guidelines Review Process NISD Secondary Grading Guidelines Survey The Secondary Grading Guidelines Advisory Committee will provide feedback and recommendations to revise the grading guidelines for the school year

April MayJuneJulyAugust November April SPR 2015 Secondary Staff Survey June 15 Principal’s Sub-Committee Jul 20 Grading Guideline Committee Review SPR 2016 Secondary Staff Survey Secondary Grading Guideline Committee Timeline Teacher/Parent Sub-Committee May 26 NISD Board of Trustees Report Aug 10 TBD Secondary Grading Guidelines Advisory Committee

SPR 2015 Survey Results Focus- –Late Work –Exemptions –Reteach/Retest protocols –Communication expectations

Late Work “The late work policy does not help the students, it makes them apathetic to doing their best.” “We are not teaching our students responsibility when we will accept a late assignment 6 weeks after it was due. No boss in this day and age is going to accept this so why is it acceptable for students?” “The late work policy allows students to blow off the entire six weeks, as long as they work really hard the last week.”

Late Work When an assignment is submitted after a deadline, a penalty of fifteen (15) points per class meeting may be deducted from the grade with a maximum of 30 points deducted. Formative work will be accepted for a grade (not to exceed 70% see #1 under Late Work) until the summative assignment for that content is completed or until the teacher documents personal contact with a student’s parents regarding a late assignment. Teachers may accept work beyond this timeline for purposes of providing feedback to the student but any grade given will follow the procedures outlined in Late Work.

Exemptions “I believe that the exam exemptions are not preparing students to be future ready.” “Concerning exam exemptions, I feel that especially high school students are not being adequately prepared for college by allowing them to be exempted from exams. As educators, we are to make the students college ready and I feel this would be an area that would help them be more prepared for the rigor of college.”

NISD High School Attendance NHS BNHS SAHS

Exemptions Dr. DeSimone has provided an analysis to determine the level of statistical significance between attendance before and with the final exemption in place. Including Steele AHS, attendance has shown only slightly significant improvement. If Steele AHS is excluded, attendance has low significance. Conclusion: including SAHS’s numbers, the exemption has made a slight difference in attendance. Excluding SAHS’s numbers, the exemption had little impact on student attendance.

Exemptions The Secondary Grading Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that exemptions are provided during the spring semester to students that meet the following criteria: 1.Students taking EOC exams may be exempt from that course semester final 2.Students enrolled in AP courses AND participate in the AP exam may be exempt from that course semester final.

Final Exams The Secondary Grading Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that all NISD Secondary Campuses (Grades 6- 12) utilize a consistent formula for calculating semester grades. The semester exam for grade 6-12 shall be counted as 1/7 of the semester grade. The following formula demonstrates the method for calculating the semester grade. {(6*A) + (E)} / 7 = Semester Grade A= Average of three six weeks grades E = Semester Examination Grade.

Reteach/Retest Protocol The Secondary Grading Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that teachers follow a consistent Reteach/Retest protocol. 1.All students will be provided the opportunity to retest following the return of each assignment/assessment if the grade is below 80%. 2.Teachers will enter grades in the grade book within five (5) school days of assignment due date. 3.Once posted in the grade book, students will have two (2) school days to request the opportunity to re-do the assignment AND shall complete the new assessment/assignment within five (5) school days of the original grade posting in the grade book. 4.The teacher shall replace the grade with the average of the two attempts.

Communication Expectations The Secondary Grading Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that teachers provide timely feedback and grades. Teachers will be expected to post grades in the grade book within five (5) days of the assignment due date. Any variance from this timeline shall be promptly communicated to students/parents. After the second grade of “0” or “Missing Assignment” [M] is assigned to a student in a grading period, the parents must be contacted by the teacher. If the problem persists, a student-teacher- parent conference is required.

Grading Guidelines for Secondary Schools