Grading Policy

EDTE 613: Assessment

A. Relevance and Context:
I believe, first and foremost, that the development of a students
grade should be based on the learning objectives for the course. Context is important when
determining these factors. Attendance and participation, for example, are not relevant
factors in most cases, but exceptions to this exist in areas of the fine arts like drama, dance,
or music where participation in a rehearsal in preparation for a performance as a group is
critical. As such, the ways I would weight the final grade for a music class (my subject
specialty) and a math class (for example) are totally unique; a grade weighting might look
like this:

Math 8 grade breakdown

Unit tests or projects (40%)
Personal math exploration
project (30%)
Final exam (30%)

Instrumental Music 8 grade breakdown

Professionalism and Musicianship (60%)
Attendance
Focus and Participation
Preparation
Instrument and music
Focus
Improvement
Attitude
Concerts (20%)
Concert 1: November 20th
Concert 2: January 7th
Repertoire prepared
Full uniform
Final Sight Reading Test (10%)
Sectional
Individual
Group theory project (10%)

B. Zeroes and Failing Grades:

The need to give a student a zero on an assignment or fail them
in a course arises from a number of factors; many of them are beyond the students control.
It is important to consider all these factors before issuing a mark or grade that may severely
impact their ability to pass the course, or have implications beyond the classroom.
Motivation, for example, is not inherently the students problem; it is an issue that stems
from the rationale for the lesson, unit, or course, which are conveyed by the teacher. Im not
saying that a zero or a failure isnt always inappropriate, but background must be completed
before such a decision is made. Furthermore, students should always be given an
opportunity to make up a poor mark on an assignment, after considering the circumstances
for the poor work.
C. Use of Summative Assessment Tools: A students grade for a unit, topic, or course can
only be determined once a final, cummulative learning activity has been completed. Such

Brennan Conroy (EDPB Yr. 5 Secondary)

Grading Policy
EDTE 613: Assessment
activities can only take place after ample formative learning activities. See my assessment
philosophy for more details.
D. Use of Criterion-Referenced Standards:
I believe that each individual student is
responsible for their own learning, marks, and grades. Therefore, I do not use
norm-referenced grading systems (AKA: The curve); a students grade can only be
calculated in reference to their own work, based on the weighting indicated in the courses
outline.
E. Course Outline:
A course outline detailing all of the above (as relevant to the course)
should be distributed at the outset of the course. The outline is my contract with my
students, detailing the learning objectives for the course, the required materials and texts,
approximate schedule, a list of major summative activities and dates, and a description of
how they can expect assignments to be marked and their grade calculated.

Brennan Conroy (EDPB Yr. 5 Secondary)