Frenship Middle School

Social Studies Department

Grading Policy for All Grade Levels in the Department

For the School Year 2017-2018

1. Required Number of Grades

  • A minimum of 10 grades will be recorded each Six Weeks Period (SWP).
  • A minimum of ½ of the 10 grades will be recorded in each half of the SWP.
  • No less than 2 Summative Assessments will be recorded in each half of the SWP.

2. Grades in Skyward

  • Grades will be recorded in Skyward by 8 AM of each Monday of each SWP.
  • Grades recorded in Skyward will be linked to key understanding, performance assessments, or TEKS student expectations.

3. Correction procedures for all Formative and Summative Assessments (these procedures are consistent throughout all 3 grade levels with the exception of an added component of demonstrated mastery will be added with each grade level and may be modified for differentiation).

  • Any grade failing or passing will be eligible for correction in order to facilitate improved mastery at all levels of performance.
  • The basic procedures for all 3 grade levels will consist of the following:
  • Write (hand written only) the question of any incorrectly answered questions once.
  • Write the correct answer for each question three times (full text not alpha indicator).
  • These will be written on a separate page of lined notebook paper correctly identifying the appropriate question number, attached (stapled) to the frontof the original assessment and resubmitted for regrading.
  • This is where the seventh and eighth grades will be required to add some component of additional mastery determined by the respective grade level teachers.
  • Proper execution of ALL of these procedures for ALL incorrect responses will earn ½ of the missed points to be added to the Original Grade (OG) in Skyward with the OG reflected in the Notes/Comments field.

4. Make-up Work

  • Compliance with district policy of 2 class days for every class day missed for completion and submission of missed assignments.
  • Administrators have the discretion to modify this guideline due to extenuating circumstances.

5. Homework

  • Will be determined on a teacher-by-teacher basis.
  • Individual student performance or lack thereof will be considered in determining the need for homework.

6. Late Work

  • Late work will be accepted for full grade earned (to properly reflect appropriate mastery of the content in the assignment) up to the cut-off for the SWP.
  • When work is not turned in, teachers will enter a “0” in Skyward with an “M” and an explanation in the Notes/Comment field of “A”, indicating the student was absent, or “L” indicating the student was present but failed to turn in the assignment.
  • After School Detention can be assigned as a consequence for lateness on the 3rd late assignment in a SWP per teacher and each late assignment thereafter to the end of the SWP.

7. Percent Weights of Grades

  • Core subjects will have two categories of assessments in Skyward with the corresponding weights:
  • Formative Assessment – 60%*
  • Summative Assessments – 40%**

* Formative Assessments are progress monitoring tools that determine how we can help students in the process of learning. They are assessments FOR learning. Formative assessments can be taken as grades, but do not have to be recorded as a grade in the gradebook (i.e. thumbs up/down, tickets out, four corners, gallery walks, labs, observations, questioning, discussions, learning/response logs, graphic organizers, peer/self-assessments, practice presentations, individual responses [written/digital], spelling tests, homework, editing, recording thinking while reading, think/pair/share, portfolios, anecdotal records, participation, etc.).

** Summative Assessments measure how much students have learned over time. They are assessments OF learning. They assess mastery of the curriculum standards and help determine effectiveness of instruction. Summative assessments should be created prior to instruction to capture and identify both content and process of learning that represent the desired outcomes (i.e. end of unit tests or projects, standardized assessments, labs, completed compositions, completed portfolios).

  • No less than 2 Summative Assessments will be recorded in each grading period of each SWP.