It is essential that teachers, parents/guardians and students are conscious of the grading policies that are used by the schools under the Office of Education Services. They will not be able to observe grades and know the meaning of the grades without knowing about these policies.
Value of Transparent Grades
Teachers should know about the policies, the analysis behind them and how the grades in their classroom align with policies.
Teachers should work hard to make student grades clear and transparent. They should tell students how the grades were determined and permit students to take responsibility for their grades and understand how they earned their grades.
Number of Grading Periods
Usually on a nine week grading period, students receive grades.
For middle school students they usually get grades quarterly, the average of the first and second semester and a final grade for the year.
Two quarterly grades and a final grade is the format for high school students.
In year-long high school classes, students will get four quarterly grades, one final grade, and the average of two semesters for every year-long course. Within ten days of the end of year/semester/quarter, students will get their report cards from their school.
Letter or Numeric Grades
For students in grades three through twelve, all grades have to be numeric and approved by the State Board of Education by using the system of seven points.
Students in kindergarten through second grade will get grades that actually show their performance and they are not numeric. These grades are S for satisfactory progress, C for commendable and N for needs improvement.
Considerations for Failing Grades
- To make sure students are capable of passing a course, the teacher will average a failing grade as sixty. Students should review all grades they have gotten, know the calculation of grades and understand their deficits.
- In addition to this, the student should get work that improves their capabilities and know the different concepts to get a grade of sixty. This procedure should happen in a time of less than two weeks from the period that the student has the failing grade.
- If the student has an excused absence, the teacher should give make-up work and time with a certified teacher to cover the education class time that is being missed. It should be reported within ten days of the end of every quarter. The work that can be covered from an unexcused absence is an exam or a test.
