Grading Policies
Being smart is not enough. To be successful you need to become a scholar with strong intellectual character. Intellectual character is not how smart you are, but how you invest your intelligence. You must engage in the dispositions of thinking: open-minded, curious, metacognitive, seeking truth and understanding, strategic, and skeptical.
It is my goal that you become proficient in both biological sciences and the practice of intellectual character. In the quest to become proficient, you measure your own progress against standards of understanding, not against the progress of others. To measure proficiency against these standards, I use a 4-point proficiency scale:
4 = Advanced:Demonstrating deep understanding beyond the standards. A score of Advanced is equivalent to an A+.
3 = Proficient:Demonstrating the six facets of understanding the standards by the ability to explain, apply, interpret, have perspective, have empathy, and show self-understanding (metacognition). A score of Proficient is equivalent to an A-.
2 = Partially Proficient: Demonstrating partial or incomplete understanding of the standards, while having knowledge and/or skills, cannot fully demonstrate the six facets of understanding. A score of Partially Proficient is equivalent to a C.
1 = Unsatisfactory:Demonstrates incomplete knowledge and/or skills and lacking the ability to demonstrate the six facets of understanding. A score of Unsatisfactory is equivalent to an F.
It is my belief that ALL students are capable of achieving at high levels by developing a strong intellectual character. It is my goal that ALL students demonstrate proficiency. This singular belief and goal are manifested in my homework and correction policies.
Homework
What I Believe…
To become proficient and develop intellectual character you must set goals, acquire skills, and direct yourself. To do that requires practice, grit, courage and discipline.
Consider participation in a sport. At the end of the season, what matters is your win/loss record in competitions. However, the vast majority of your time throughout the season is spent, not in competition, but in practice. If you do not practice, you will not perform well in competition, if your coach even allows you to compete at all. If you do not practice with grit, courage and discipline, you will not perform well in competition. Your coach will ask you to try new skills, not expecting you to perform them perfectly the first time, but expecting you to try your best using skills you already have. Your coach will give you feedback on ways to improve and you will try the skill again and again until you have perfected it. The feedback does not count towards your season record directly, but it is vital to pay careful attention to the feedback you are given, make corrections and monitor your own progress. Likewise, you cannot skip practice for two weeks and expect to “catch up” on the missed practices in a single monumental effort the night before the competition.
This is the model I use for homework. At the end of the semester what matters is your semester grade on your transcript. However, the vast majority of your time throughout the semester will be spent, not in assessment, but in practice. While some of that practice will occur during class in our lessons, the majority of your practice will be in the form of homework. If you do not do your homework with grit, courage and discipline, you will not be able to demonstrate understanding on assessments. I will ask you to think about new ideas, to use the thinking dispositions, to take intellectual risks without expecting you to be mistake-free the first time. I will give you feedback on ways to improve and ask you to try again and again until you can demonstrate your understanding. Because homework is practice in acquiring and demonstrating understanding, homework will not count toward your grade.However, it is vital to pay attention to the feedback you are given, make corrections and monitor your own progress. Likewise, you cannot skip homework for weeks and expect to catch up on the missed homework in a single monumental effort the night before an assessment.
There is a common misconception among students: “I work best under pressure.” It would be far more accurate and honest to say, “I only work under pressure.” Working under the pressure of procrastination may get the task done, but it will never be your best work. Consistent persistence will outshine a last minute effort every time. This is why practice is not an option.
How It Works…
You can expect homework every night. As a general rule, the amount of time you should spend doing homework is:
Biology, Anatomy & Physiology: 1 hour of homework per hour of class. Thus for a regular 95-minute class, you should spend an hour and a half completing homework, practicing and preparing for the next class.
AP Biology: This is a college-level class so, as in college, you should allocate 2-3 hours of homework per hour of class. Thus for a regular 95-minute class, you should spend a minimum of 3 hours reading the text, practicing, and preparing for the next class.
By now it should be clear that I place a high value on homework and expect you to do the same. However, I also believe that breaks are meant to be breaks from school. I do not give homework over breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Blues Break, and Spring Break). A 3-day weekend is not a break.
It is your obligation to practice through completing homework. It is my obligation to make sure that each homework assignment is carefully and thoughtfully designed to help you develop and demonstrate understanding. You need to complete each homework assignment to develop your intellectual character and understanding.
Because homework is practice, it will be given careful and thoughtful feedback, but will not be graded. At the beginning of each class, I will walk around the room and check each student’s homework. Homework will be recorded in Infinite Campus as follows:
1:Done
m: Missing. If the assignment is completed within the unit of study, the score will be changed to “1” with a notation of “late”.
These notations are recorded in Infinite Campus for record keeping only. Homework is not graded and does not count towards a student’s grade. There are many reasons you could have missing homework: an absence, poor planning, or an unexpected obligation. Life happens. Often when you least expect it and never at a convenient time. When life happens, take a deep breath, regroup and make a plan to get back on track. Remember, homework is either done or not done. As soon as it is done, the notation in Infinite Campus will reflect that.
Assessment
What I Believe…
In science, data is critical. Data is used to make predictions, support assertions and determine the next steps to be taken. Often, data is used to establish a baseline which is then used to measure change or progress.
In class, data will be collected through both formative assessments and summative assessments. Formative assessments are used to guide my instruction and provide feedback to you. I will use data from formative assessments to decide how quickly to move through a given topic, what ideas and skill need additional practice and review. You will use formative assessment to measure your progress towards achieving proficiency and evaluate the development of your intellectual character. We will both use formative assessments to determine how much knowledge you have before beginning a topic. This becomes our baseline which will then be used to measure your progress towards proficiency. We will use formative assessments during our study of a topic to measure your progress and make any adjustments along the way.
Summative assessments are tasks you will complete to demonstrate your proficiency in your understanding of the content standards and the practice of intellectual character. Summative assessments will vary in length and importance depending upon the amount of content being assessed. An Check for Understanding assessment may be as brief as 10-20 multiple choice questions (often called a quiz) or as involved as a large project or performance, taking many weeks to complete, or full-class assessment (often called a project or test).
Returning to the sports analogy, formative assessments are like training camps, scrimmages and preseason games. They do not count towards your win/loss record. Summative assessments are the games that count. All the practice you have invested through homework and the feedback you received, and used, through formative assessments will have prepared you to excel in the summative assessments that will compose your semester grade on your transcript.
How It Works…
Formative assessments, because they are used to guide my instruction and your learning, do not count for towards your grade. They will be recorded in the homework section of Infinite Campus using the same notations as homework.
Summative assessments will be graded using the 4-point proficiency scale described above. The score will be recorded in the grades section of Infinite Campus.
Redoing and Retaking Assessments
What I Believe…
It is my belief that ALL students are capable of achieving at high levels by developing a strong intellectual character. It is my goal that ALL students demonstrate proficiency. However, all students learn in different ways and at different rates. Further, ideas in biological sciences are highly interconnected and ideas will recur consistently throughout the course.
If you have been practicing by completing homework with discipline, grit and courage, if you have used the feedback from formative assessments to adjust your learning, you should be able to demonstrate proficiency on the summative assessment and earn an A.
However, this may not always be the case. As we continue learning after the assessment, you may make a new connection or finally understand the idea you could not put your head around earlier. Your learning may not precisely coincide with the assessment schedule of the class. This is why I allow small assessments to be redone and large assessments to be retaken.
The opportunity to redo or retake an assessment will always be at my discretion. If you have provided evidence of intellectual character by consistent homework completion and attention to feedback on formative assessments, you can redo or retake an assessment. If you have not demonstrated intellectual character, you may not be granted the opportunity to redo or retake an assessment.
How It Works…
Redoing a Check for Understanding
If you have completed all homework assignments prior to a Check for Understanding yet receive a score below proficient (2 or 1), I expect you to redo and resubmit the work until it is proficient (a 3 is the maximum grade attainable on a redone assessment).
You can redo and resubmit the assessment for a better grade using the following steps:
- Use green ink. Make a key at the top of the original (i.e. “Corrections in Green”)
- Put the correct answer next to the original answer. DO NOT erase or cross out the original. When there is no space, corrections may be made on a separate piece of paper attached to the back of the original work. All corrections must be clearly and completely labeled to earn credit.
- Provide a thorough explanation of:
- Why you missed the original problem. Also provide
- Evidence of understanding: why your new answer is correct. Cite the text and show all work.
- NOTE: Correct answers without thorough explanations will not earn credit.
- Redone work may be submitted more than once if needed until proficiency is attained.
- All deadlines for redoing and resubmitting work will be strictly enforced.
Retaking a Unit Assessment
If you have consistently demonstrated intellectual character throughout the unit of study, you can petition to retake a unit assessment. To initiate the process, you will redo and resubmit the assessment using the same protocol as for Checks for Understanding. You will then complete the retake application. Note that it will require both your signature and a signature from a parent/guardian. When I approve the application, we will arrange a time for you to come in and retake the assessment. While the retake assessment will evaluate your understanding of the same big ideas, the format of the exam may vary from the original and will include only those areas in which proficiency was not obtained.
Grading Policies
Student Acknowledgement
I have carefully read the grading policies handout and
___ I understand the policies as stated.
___ I have the following questions about the policies:
______
Student SignatureDate
Parent Acknowledgement
I have carefully read the grading policies handout and
___ I understand the policies as stated.
___ I have the following questions about the policies:
______
Parent SignatureDate
Grading Policies
Student Acknowledgement
I have carefully read the grading policies handout and
___ I understand the policies as stated.
___ I have the following questions about the policies:
______
Student SignatureDate
Parent Acknowledgement
I have carefully read the grading policies handout and
___ I understand the policies as stated.
___ I have the following questions about the policies:
______
Parent SignatureDate
C. Gay revised 8/2011Steamboat Springs High School