Spanish III

WKU 102/201

Grading

Explanation

How are the grades in Spanish III at Barren County High School the same and different to those for WKU 102 and 201? This is a delicate balance that requires quite a bit of time on my part, but I feel reflects correctly on each institution. All students are enrolled in Spanish III at BCHS. Some of those students, but not all, also choose to enroll in the WKU. All students will complete the same assignments, but not all assignments will be graded the same way.

If I were willing to take the easy out, I would just make all BCHS requirements a part of the WKU grade. However, Spanish has traditionally be a college prep class and there are a number of built-in requirements to BCHS Spanish III that are actually pre-university training (how to do a notebook, the bonus that is offered on so many different grades, etc.) These are not items that would traditionally be graded in a university course because they would be considered pre-existing. I still feel that the students need this training so I am going to continue to give those grades for BCHS Spanish III and delete those grades from the WKU grade.

When you look at your grade on Infinite Campus, you will see all the grades. They will all be a part of the BCHS grade. However, not all will be a part of the WKU grade(there are no additional requirements for the university course above and beyond those for BCHS). All notebook grades and bonus/extra credit grades will be subtracted before points are entered into the WKU spreadsheet to be calculated.

Also, in the BCHS grade all quarters carry equal weight. However, in the university setting, the grades for an entire semester are calculated together and I will do the same for the WKU grade. The total points earned for the whole semester (minus the notebook and extra credit points) will be divided by the total points possible. This calculation will be 90% of the semester grade with the semester final counting as 10% of the grade.

Because the two grades are calculated by different methods and the WKU grade does not contain all the grades, the WKU grade posted at the end of the semester could be different than a simple average of the two quarter grades.

What will you end up with in the end? The Spanish III grade is the one that will be used in your GPA calculation for BCHS. This is the grade on Infinite Campus. Additionally, those students who choose to register for the WKU classes will have a final grade for Sp 102 and a final grade for SP 201. These grades are posted on the student’s official WKU transcript with a value of 3 credit hours for each course. The two transcripts (BCHS and WKU) are completely different.

I hope that we will have a seamless and easy blending of the high school and university experiences this year. It is an exciting opportunity for all of us. I am including an example student below. You can find the spreadsheet,with this example, on my web page to download and calculate your own grade as we go along.

Sincerely,

Señora Mattingly

Estudiante Bueno:

First quarter they earned 3500 points of 3420 possible (yes they did bonus work.) for the BCHS grade. A average of 102%. The maximum grade that can be posted is 100% so the extra is just cushion for a bad day. Of those points, 700 points were due to notebook checks. Therefore, 2702 points out of 2702 points are transferred to the WKU calculator, but nothing is posted to WKU yet.

In the second quarter, Estudiante Bueno had fewer great grades and earned 4702 points of 5596 points possiblein Infinite Campus, an average of 84%. Of these 750 points were notebook or extra credit and are subtracted, leaving 3952 points out of 4896 (those extra 50 bonus points were valued at 0 in IC) before being added to the WKU calculator.

On the final exam, Estudiante Mattingly did not do so well and received an 83 which is 10% of the final grade.Although the 1st quarter grade was very high, the second quarter grade had more points and carried more weight. When calculated with the exam, the final grade became an 87. WKU wants grades reported by letter grade so Estudiante Mattingly receiveda B for the class. This procedure will be repeated in the second semester to calculate the grade for SP 201.

When Estudiante Mattingly’s grade is checked in Infinite Campus, the grades for all 4 quarters will be posted and will include those notebook checks and any other extra credit grades that may have been given. There is a final in the spring which counts as a percentage of the final BCHS Spanish III grade. The final which is given in the fall for WKU is counted as a performance grade in the 2nd quarter grade for BCHS .