ISD 423's Mission is Excellence in Academics, Activities, and Character. Our district's Core Values provide further direction and meaning to the mission. As a district, we strive for proficiency for all. One of our Core Values "All Students Learn" means we believe all students not only are capable of learning but also capable of meeting established proficiency.
We believe our school system's policies and procedures, teachers, support professionals, students, and our parents/guardians should hold students to high expectations of reaching proficiency of the learning standards. That means learning is a process, it isn't easy, and students will make mistakes while learning. We should not expect proficiency on the first attempt.
Learning isn't a contest or a game where there are winners and losers. Our system's policies and procedures shall not be established to promote a winning and losing mindset while learning. We want all students to be successful, proficient, and best prepared for their lives after graduation. In order to do this, we must strive for equity for all students in their education.
Hutchinson Public Schools’ grading and reporting system shall provide students, parents, teachers, and the community with a framework for accurately reporting student achievement. The District will establish a clear and accurate system of grading and reporting academic achievement.
This system can serve as an open communication link between the school, home, and the community. It will provide all parties with awareness of student work and an understanding of how the grade reflects the student’s achievement. Students and parents will be able to use this data for future course selection and post-secondary plans.
When the student graduates from Hutchinson Public Schools, the summary of these grades, the academic transcript, will provide a permanent and accurate accounting of the student's achievement of academic course standards, attendance, and academic dispositions or habits also known as character. Employers and post-secondary institutions will be able to count on the accuracy of this historic document.
One of the District’s Core Values is “All Students Learn.” Not only does this mean our district’s educators believe all students are capable of learning but also capable of reaching determined proficiency levels on all academic standards. We will continue to believe in and strive for proficiency for all students through our instruction and grading practices.
Hutchinson Public Schools is committed to supporting a system of guiding principles that will be used to arrive at a clear and accurate grading and reporting policy and procedures. In order to realize these goals, the grading and reporting system must:
Be based on the most appropriate academic standards available to the instructor, department or school. These standards may be local, state, or national.
Reflect academic achievement, attendance, and academic disposition or habits also known as character.
Provide meaningful feedback during the learning process.
Be honest, fair, transparent, credible, useful, and user-friendly.
Be criterion-referenced.
Align with the Hutchinson Public Schools curriculum.
Reflect consistency within and among courses, grade levels, departments, and/or schools.
Communicate information to parties in a clear and timely manner.
Reflect high expectations of all students across all courses and programs.
Be developmentally appropriate for all students.
(ISD 423 Policy 618)
All Students Can Learn--How to Use Grading to Improve Learning Susan M. Brookhart
Pursuing Educational Equity Through a Multi-Tiered System of Support MN Collective for Educational Equity (MnCEE)