About Social Studies Grades

Escalante and my philosophy around grades is that grades should reflect students learning and meeting of the learning target/standard. Therefore, you will notice that there are only two types of grades in the grade book - Formative Assessments (small assessments. learning tasks or tests that occur during the unit, showing their progress toward the unit's learning targets thus far) and Summative Assessments (larger assessments or projects that measure students' understanding of the long term learning target or unit standard). There are sometimes Formative Checks that are entered in the grade book, but not a part of the calculated grade. These Formative Checks are still useful in understanding students' development toward meeting the learning target/standard.

Assessment Retake Policy & Raising Your Grade

Since grades should reflect learning, I do allow students to retake or redo assessments. However, students have to earn that opportunity to retake or redo. They would do this by showing me they have put in extra work to learn and review the material and are ready to show what they now know. Students can review all lessons online, and access/complete the lesson activities and notes at home. Typically, all printed materials (i.e. articles, worksheets, etc.) will be available digitally. If they are only available in a printed format, I will have extra copies available for your student to take home. Students can also schedule some 1:1 time with me to review certain topics or material. Once a student demonstrates the extra review they have done, then he or she can schedule a time with me to retake or redo an assessment.