With a few weeks of school under our belts, all high school math students have completed an assessment (Geometry students can view their scores in Google Classroom and will receive feedback on Monday, September 12.). Students are encouraged to share their work and discuss their progress with their families. The following information, as outlined in the syllabus, may be useful in these discussions:
In math class, students’ grades reflect their understanding of the learning objectives. Learning objectives reflect the skills or content that students must know, understand, and do by the end of the course. Information about students’ skills is assessed using the following scale:
Score 4.0: In addition to Score 3.0, in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught.
*Score 3.0: No major errors or omissions regarding any of the information and/or processes (simple or complex) that were explicitly taught.
Score 2.0: No major errors or omissions regarding the simpler details and processes but major errors or omissions regarding the more complex ideas and processes.
Score 1.0: With help, a partial understanding of some of the simpler details and processes and some of the more complex ideas and processes.
Score 0.0: Even with help, no understanding or skill demonstrated.
(*A score of 3 demonstrates understanding of the learning objective and is the achievement goal for each student. A score above 3 represents understanding beyond expectations.)
Because grades are a reflection of the learning objectives, retakes are possible at the teacher’s discretion. In order for a retake to be offered students must develop a plan for re-learning the material, have the plan approved by their teacher, and together decide on a date for the retake. It is the student’s responsibility to follow through with the plan and show up for the retake. It is possible for the retake to cover all the assessed material or a subset of that material as determined by the teacher and the student. Any retake must be taken before the next assessment takes place.
For more information about standards based grading, here are some resources:
Research (Hanover, A Research Primer, An Action Research Project 1 , An Action Research Project 2)
