Hoover High School Grading and Feedback

Math Department

Definition of Student Achievement

Students must have an average score of 2 or higher on the priority benchmarks. (a priority benchmark measures a student’s progress toward achieving a standard)

Philosophy of Grading and Feedback

Course grades should communicate areas of growth, proficiency, and mastery of district curriculum and IB Middle Years Program Objectives to students and their families. To facilitate excellent communication, all grading policies at Hoover High School have been reviewed to ensure grading is Fair, Accurate, Specific, and Timely and will be reported in a Standards-Referenced Format. By nature of design, course subject areas have differing expectations of how students will meet standards. For example, Science classes have lab requirements, PE has participation requirements, English is writing intensive etc. Student expectations to perform at each proficiency level will be communicated as will methods to improve grades within the course by the teacher during each unit. To ensure Fair, Accurate, Specific, and Timely Feedback, the following guiding practices are used in grading across all subjects at Hoover High School:

  1. A consistent 4 – point scale will be used to communicate performance on assessments. Homework/Practice will NOT count as part of the grade, but will be tracked for communication purposes and to show progress toward meeting the standard.
  2. Letter grades, derived from the 4 – point scale will be based solely on the achievement of course academic standards. Student participation, work completion and the ability to work with others will be reported separately in the grading comments section of the report card. Employability Skills Rubric is included in this policy overview.
  3. Scores will be based on the body of evidence from assessments that allow the student to demonstrate proficiency at every level of proficiency. Assessments examples include, but are not limited to: Tests/Quizzes, Performances; Presentations, Projects, Writing Prompts, Extended Writing and Demonstrations. The body of evidence should include multiple assessments of learning.
  4. Achievement will be organized by standards/learning topics and IB content criteria and reported as a scale score.
  5. Students will be provided multiple opportunities for demonstration of proficiency.
  6. Retakes with teachers and the required demonstration within a unit must be completed within two units of the current unit of study.
  7. Students are required to complete all homework or alternative practice assignments (if available) prior to retaking an assessment.
  8. Opportunities to show learning prior to retake should:
  9. Be tied to a subject-area standard (ie: writing a paper on a class topic, extending their work beyond class requirements, demonstrating knowledge or skills)
  10. NOT be awarded for non-academic actions (bringing class supplies, cleaning desks etc.)
  1. If the re-take unit is more than two units behind the current unit being studied in class, retakes will take the form of unit recovery and will be completed in/coordinated by the Response After School Program.
  2. This option is available for students that have not reached a proficient score after doing a retake with the teacher.
  3. If more than 2 units of a semester are completed through computer based unit recovery then the course credit will reflect this fact by identifying the course on a student transcript with a C.
  4. Example: MTH111 would become MTH111C
  5. This can have implications for colleges, specifically in regard to athletics.
  1. Since multiple opportunities tied to current learning are offered to improve performance, extra credit will not be used in calculating grades.
  2. Accommodations and modifications to the standards will be made for special education students if IEP goals indicate the need for these modifications. The established scale will be used for special needs students, but modifications in the pathway, timeline, requirements to demonstrate the level or proficiency may be modified.
  3. Effective Homework Characteristics:
  4. Purposeful and aligned to the standard
  5. Relevant to student outcomes (on assessments)
  6. Provides feedback on a student’s progress toward proficiency in a standard
  7. Is for the purpose of practice and refinement of skills
  8. All students have access to the necessary resources to complete the homework
  9. Linked to future assessment
  10. All grades will be updated in Infinite Campus by 3:00 Thursday of each week, teachers will follow department feedback timelines for posting grades and will enter the assignment on Infinite Campus when the assignment is given to students. Parents are encouraged to use the Infinite Campus Parent Portal to monitor grades and assignments in a class.
  11. Teachers will make a parent/family contact at the time that student’s grade falls into the low “C” range (2.2 or below) or “F” range based on current evidence in the student’s body of knowledge.

Grading Categories, Descriptions and Weighting:

Category / Assessments May Include / Weighting
Benchmarks
Semester Test
Assignments / Summative Assessments and Projects
Comprehensive Exam or Comprehensive Project
Homework, Formative Assessments, Warm-ups, Exit Tickets, etc… / ≈90% of the grade will be split between standards based on emphasis of those standard throughout the semester.
≈10%
0% This category will be used as documentation in the student’s body of evidence indicating his/her level of understanding of the course standards.

Grade Descriptors

Proficiency in Course Standards / Scale Score / Letter
Grade / Description / Scale
Exceeding / 4 / A / The student consistently meets and at times exceeds the grade level standard.
Student demonstrates mastery of the concept with no errors in calculations. Student can solve unfamiliar problems. / A: 3.33 – 4.0
Proficient / 3 / B / The student consistently meets the grade level standard.
Student is proficient in all standards and consistently demonstrates the following levels of intellectual work – Remembering, Understanding, Application and Analysis / B: 2.67 – 3.32
Developing / 2 / C / The student is making progress toward the grade level standard; some evidence of understanding is evident.
Student is proficient in most standards and often demonstrates the following levels of intellectual work – Remembering and Understanding / C: 2.0 – 2.66
Beginning / 1 / F / The student shows limited understanding of the grade level standard. / F
Not Proficient / 0 / F / NO CREDIT AWARDED - Not proficient in all course standards AND not making progress - unable to fully evaluate levels of intellectual work. Progress is defined as making repeated attempts with increasing levels of performance in the standard.
OR
The student withdraws / drops a class after the deadline (7 weeks). / F: Less than 2
Failing Due to Attendance / F / A / Student is receiving an F in the course AND has more than 7 absences to that course. Students do not automatically receive an F when they reach 7 absences; however, this grade is intended to communicate that low performance was due to on-going attendance issues. / F/A: 7 or more absences and failing

Note: Individual department policies may choose to eliminate the “D” based on needed proficiency for success at the next level of study within that subject. For example:Students who do not show proficiency in ALL content in Algebra I will not be successful with the requirements of Algebra II.

Levels of Intellectual Work

In accordance with IB goals and best practices for teaching and learning, graded assessments should allow students to demonstrate master at all levels of cognitive demand.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Level / Indicators
Remembering: Can the student recall or remember the information? / Define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce, state
Understanding: Can the student explain ideas of concepts? / Classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase
Applying: Can the student use the information in a new way? / Choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write
Analyzing: Can the student distinguish between the different parts? / Appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test
Evaluating: Can the student justify a stand or decision? / Appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate
Creating: Can the student create new products or points of view? / Assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

Study Skills and Work Habits

Math is to learning what endurance and strength training is to sports: the basis that enables you to excel in the specialty of your choice. You cannot become a major sports star without being strong and having good cardiovascular ability. You cannot become a star within your job or excel in your profession unless you can think critically -- and math will help you do that.

New technology and new ways of doing things change daily life and work more and more. If you have learned math, you can learn how and why things work, and avoid scraping by through your career, supported by Post-It Notes and Help files -- scared to death of accidentally pressing the wrong key and running into something unfamiliar.

Homework may not be part of your overall grade, but it is an essential part to your success in mathematics. Evaluating your understanding of a skill or concept when you are just learning it is not going to be a true measure of your eventual understanding of that skill or concept. We understand this idea very well when it comes to athletics or fine arts performances. The football player doesn’t get credit for tackles made during practice and the band member doesn’t earn a I for their performance during rehearsal. However, we do know that putting in valuable hours of preparation can produce high results when those performances matter on game night or during a state music competition. The same principle holds true for your math class or any class that you are taking at Hoover.

Here are some suggestions to help you be successful in math:

  • Come to class prepared
  • Bring your book, notes, a writing utensil, and a calculator (if available)
  • Be attentive
  • Stay engaged with the lesson, take notes, write down examples, ask relevant questions
  • Attempt all assignments
  • This is the practice that is necessary to be successful in understanding skills/concepts
  • Attend
  • You have to be here in order to know what’s going on
  • Seek Help
  • When concepts/skills get difficult or you’ve missed school, come in for additional help before school, at lunch, or after school
  • Be accountable
  • Be mindful of your actions and the effects they have on yourself and others

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