Advanced Functions Grading Policy
Category Description Frequency grading value
Homework | Problems chosen from text, WebAssign and handouts | One or two grades a week | Rubric Or Percent correct | 25% |
Quizzes | half period assessments | roughly once a week | Percent correct | 25% |
Tests | full period assessments | two or three times a quarter | Percent correct | 40% |
Participation | active engagement during class time Keeps an organized notebook
pop quizzes
| daily weekly
whenever
| Does student have tools required to participate when needed? shows thought and effort | 10% |
There are multiple opportunities for students to obtain feedback and hone their skills in this course. The first opportunity occurs during class room instruction. Students are expected to take notes, ask questions, and participate in group activities or guided practice exercises. For these efforts they are awarded a participation grade. Everyone starts each quarter with a 100% participation grade. Keep an eye on this grade as the quarter progresses. Students lose points when they are unprepared for class and earn points buy getting a 100% on a pop-quiz. A dropping participation grade is often the first sign that things are not going well.
The second opportunity for students to obtain feedback and hone their skills is homework. On WebAssign homework students usually have three opportunities to answer each question. They are encouraged to work collaboratively on these assignments and can also get help after school. Some class time is set aside for guided practice but this time will vary. Although these assignments are scored, this grade is primarily an indication of student effort and effective study strategies. If homework grades are poor, the student needs to do something different! Students have two days to complete each assignment. Leaving the assignment to the last minute deprives the student of the opportunity to ask questions in class and/or extra help.
The third opportunity to obtain feedback occurs during weekly quizzes. These are half period formative assessments. Quizzes are returned ASAP and students are provided with an answer key and given time to discuss results and ask questions. Students are allowed to re-take a similar quiz within one week and the two grades will be averaged. If the averaged grade is below 65 and the re-take is above 65, the student will be awarded a 65. Students who are absent on the day of the quiz will also be shown the answer key of the missed quiz and will have an opportunity to makeup the missing quiz within one week. They will not be allowed to re-take the makeup quiz. Absent students have the advantage of seeing the original quiz and its answer key but to keep things fair they are only allowed one try on the quiz. There are no re-takes on makeup quizzes.
Tests are summative assessments. Here, students must demonstrate what they have learned. Performance, not feedback, is the focus and there are no re-takes on tests. Of course, absent students are allowed to makeup missed tests within two weeks as per Board of Education policy. Tests are not returned to students until the two-week makeup window has passed.
