Grading Overview

Grades should reflect student mastery of the content being taught and should not overly-rely on student work habits.

• A minimum of two grades per week per subject is recommended.

• Numerical grades according to the HISD grading scale will be used.

Grading Requirements

HISD Board Policy EIA (LOCAL) provides that “the Superintendent or designee shall ensure that each campus or instructional level develops guidelines for teachers to follow in determining grades for students. These guidelines shall ensure that grading reflects student achievement and that a sufficient number of grades are taken to support the average grade assigned. Guidelines for grading shall be clearly communicated to students and parent”. School Guidelines training is offered to all Campus Administrators, Registrars and Student Information Representatives.

This policy also provides that “Assignments, tests, projects, classroom activities, and other instructional activities shall be designed so that the student’s performance indicates the level of mastery of the designated District standards. The student’s mastery level shall be a major factor in determining the grade for a subject or course”.

To these ends, each teacher will be responsible for:

• Having fair, valid, and consistent grading procedures;

• Ensuring that conduct grades are maintained separately from academic ones;

• Using those procedures to encourage student success;

• Exercising a high degree of professional judgment in evaluating student achievement; and

• Documenting the resulting grades in the grade book or class record book.

Basis for Grading

The District Grading Policy, HISD Board Policy EIA (LOCAL), includes the following provisions:

• A classroom teacher shall be required to assign a grade that reflects the student’s relative mastery of an assignment;

• A classroom teacher shall not be required to assign a minimum grade for an assignment without regard to the student’s quality of work; and

• A student may be allowed a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment or examination for which the student received a failing grade.

*Horn policy-A student may be allowed a reasonable opportunity to make up or redo a class assignment only, not exams for which the student received a failing grade. Students receiving special education services will be able to make up or redo a class assignment or exam, except spelling tests, for which the student received a failing grade based on an individual basis.

• Horn Elementary defines reasonable opportunity as one week for correct and returns, after the assignment was returned to the student.

As a result of this policy, classroom teachers shall enter weekly grades for all courses for each student. All course grades entered into the PowerSchool system are uploaded directly from PowerSchool as per the existing policy and process guidelines to ensure accurate record-keeping of all grading. If extenuating circumstances prevent the use of PowerSchool by any teacher or certified associate teacher designated as Teacher of Record for any grading period or any course, an appropriate alternative method for keeping records of course grading (i.e. hardcopy gradebook) must be in place to provide support for any grades entered into PowerSchool manually. In such circumstances, additional principal supervision is necessary. If a long-term certified associate teacher is designated as the Teacher of Record, they will be provided access to PowerSchool. An administrator, department chair or lead teacher should monitor that grades are being posted on a weekly basis either in PowerSchool or a hard copy gradebook.

Student grades will be determined by teacher evaluation of growth attained during the significant learning activities conducted by the teacher in a given reporting period. The teacher will take into consideration all available data in judging a student's achievement in relation to the grade or course-level standards. The following indicators may be used (as appropriate) to verify that the student has mastered the required standards in a subject area:

• Standardized test performance,

• Notebooks and other class work,

• Projects,

• Performances,

• Observations,

• Teacher-made tests, and

• Term papers.

This information will be documented in the teachers' class record books, students' work folders, etc., and be available to parents upon request.

As an important part of the evaluation process, effective teachers identify performance standards, communicate specific expectations for achieving standards, and provide ongoing feedback as a student works to complete a task. They plan time for in-class conferences, make corrective comments applicable to all students, and provide private conversations and written comments on papers.

EL students in ESL programs will be assessed on progress in subjects taught in English using ESL methods. Teachers should note that appropriate linguistic accommodations must be provided for ELs and grading should reflect the student’s efforts at this level.

Students with disabilities are assessed on their progress toward their IEP goals and objectives. The ARD/IEP committee does not assign or reverse grades. Students are graded as follows:

• 70-79 is awarded if the student shows evidence of demonstrating knowledge and skills.

• 80-100 is awarded if the student shows evidence of exceeding expectations toward demonstrating knowledge and skills.