One indicator that scored low throughout the building was indicator 3.

10

Grading and reporting are based on clearly defined criteria that represent the attainment of content
knowledge and skills and are consistent across grade levels and courses

At a department chair meeting, we shared that this was a low indicator throughout the building. Department
chairs were asked to go back to their departments and have a discussion about what the 2 biggest concerns
were about grading; departments could also share items that were possibly marked low but not really a
concern.

When Department chairs brought this information back to the next meeting, we determined that the following
steps would be taken:

1. At the beginning of the school year, administration would share/provide overview explanation of the
grading policies that are outlined in the course handbook to make sure that everyone is aware of what
grading policies are.
2. Teams would be expected to have the same grading practices in place starting in Fall 2016. This is
not a new expectation, but perhaps one that is not followed very closely. Teams would have time
before the school year starts to get on the same page.
3. Staff will be expected to include a course grading description in PowerSchool. This is also not a new
expectation, but perhaps one that is not followed by all staff members and may not be monitored as
well as it could be.

In March, The AdvancEd/school design team identified points for discussion for teams/departments as they
create/revise/solidify common team grading expectations.

Task for today: Identify items that teams could use as discussion points for the common expectations. Our
job is not to say formative is 10% and summative is 90%; our job is to say teams should discuss and
determine weighting for formative and summative assessments. This list would be helpful to department
chairs and/or team leaders when they have these discussions with other teachers.

Points for Discussion

formative/summative weighting
Homework grading (completion/accuracy)
# of major projects
common assessments
IMC assignment policy
Retake policy (how many?/ points back?/time limits/due dates/expectations to earn)
Late work deductions
Ken OConnor (formative/summative weighting - expectations)
Retakes
Final Cut off dates - 3rd quarter - how permanent are dates
Behavior grades
Purposeful formatives
Feedback on formatives
Common feedback practices
Intervention practices
# of entries in the gradebook
connections between classes
posting of grades/timeliness of grades