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KPS Grading Guidelines and Best Practices
Taken from the KPS Grading Best Practices & Guidelines Document
2022-2026 Default Weighted Categories in PowerSchool (Grades 9-12)
Competency Mastery/Assessments (90% of overall grade): includes tests, quizzes, projects, papers, formal labs, portfolios, performances, presentations and any other summative assessment.
Classwork/Homework/Other (10% of overall grade): can include participation, warm ups, etc.
2025-2026 Default Weighted Categories in PowerSchool (Grades 6-8)
Competency Mastery/Assessments (75% of overall grade): includes tests, quizzes, projects, papers, formal labs, portfolios, performances, presentations and any other summative assessment.
Classwork/Homework/Other (25% of overall grade): can include participation, warm ups, etc.
Grading Best Practices
Grade Weighting:
Follow the grade weighting guidelines above to ensure specific percentages of students’ grades relate to assessment and achievement (Hanover Research, 2011, Guskey, 2000)
Avoid using a single assessment, project, or assignment to account for a majority of the students grade (Reeves, 2008)
Learning towards the end of the marking period should account for a higher percentage of the grade (Marzano, 2006) (Elementary)
Permit using the marks of M-Missing or I-Incomplete rather than giving a student a zero for a graded assignment. Allow any missing work to be turned in late for full credit. (Wormeli, 2018)
Extend the use of V = Valid Attempt (70%) especially with ML students as appropriate in addition to students with an IEP/504.
Use the Exempted (/) indicator for items that the student is not responsible for.
Minimum of three assessments per competency/standard per marking period (Dueck, 2004, Marzano 2006) (Elementary)
Grades on assessments are based on student understanding of competencies/standards and are not based on behaviors or compliance factors (Wormeli, 2018)
Any item that is not directly related to student performance on content standards (attendance, behavior, bringing materials to class, uniforms, helping the teacher, kleenex, etc.) can not be included in student grades. Items can be tracked in the gradebook as long as “collected only” is selected.
Critical Competencies:
The district will work to identify critical competencies for each subject area/course for which teachers should target in-depth instruction and ensure careful monitoring of student progress towards mastery.
Secondary teachers will use PowerSchool gradebook software to track student progress on critical competencies (required for grades K-5).
Feedback:
Actionable feedback on student progress is provided to students and parents in a timely manner (Black et. al., 2003; Wylie et. al., 2012)
Includes entering student competency scores prior to the end of a marking period so that parents can monitor progress
At least one new assessment should be entered and scored in a gradebook every two weeks.
Departments will make recommendations for frequency of grade entries based on curricular documents and types of assessments.
Teachers share results of benchmark assessments with students and parents
Students should be expected to use feedback in a constructive manner (relearning plans, corrections, redoes, reflections, etc.)
Late work & Extensions:
An extension policy without penalty on Assessments will be communicated to students. Departments/building teams can establish guidelines for how extensions can be requested/initiated by stakeholders and how long of an extension is reasonable.
For students who are absent when an assignment is completed, they will have at least 3 days to turn in the assignment. Students can request an extension if needed. Building teams should identify processes for students to receive instructional support from extended absences. (If at the end of the semester, students will need to officially request an incomplete.)
Students with an IEP/504 or ML status should be given an extension automatically as per their individualized plan and no less than the minimum established extension.
Teachers may also offer an alternative assignment or excuse the assignment. Some assignments might not be possible to make up. In those cases, the student should be exempted or given an alternative activity.
Extension guidelines will not be determined by type of absence. However, there may be additional requirements set by the administrative team for students with excessive (10%) absences including suspensions.
Teachers must communicate timelines for extensions to students and families. Timelines must be reasonable based on type of assignment, pacing guides, and week of the semester. Departments/building teams will establish guidelines for how long of an extension should be granted depending on the type of the assignment.
Corrections & Revisions
Items in the Practice category can be corrected or re-submitted without penalty within a reasonable timeframe as determined by the teacher, department, or building team.
In order to meet the purpose of a grade, students will have the ability to retest or resubmit items without penalty in the Assessment category through a process identified by the teacher, department, or building team. This process may include the requirement that the student first completes all missing practice assignments, complete test corrections, or otherwise demonstrate that additional learning has taken place prior to the retest. Care should be made to maintain assessment integrity
Class Participation:
Class participation should not have a significant impact on student grades. If participation is graded, it should reflect effort or completion (Dueck, 2014, Feldman, 2019, Reeves, 2008)
Examples of participation include warm-ups, in-class assignments, binders/notebook, content-based discussions
If participation is graded, participation should have a corresponding rubric
Use of the Audit (AU) Code
The Audit code AU should be issued to students who have an IEP and are using an alternative curriculum for the general education core class.
General education teachers should work with the special education teachers to identify students eligible to receive an alternative curriculum and an Audit AU grade.
Use of Credit and No Credit
Students who take Courseware or other credit recovery programs may receive a grade of Credit (Passing) or No Credit (Not Passing).
Students who are absent for an extended period of the semester due to illness or other factors out of their control can be issued grades of Credit or No Credit for all classes during the semester of the absence.
Students who receive homebound services will receive Credit or No Credit for all classes.
Students with 504 plans or IEP can be issued grades of Credit or No Credit and this should be consistent for all classes the student takes during the semester.
A grade of Credit indicates that a student has mastered at least 60% of the required content for that course.
The code for Credit (CR) and No Credit (NC) will not be factored into a student’s GPA.
A grade of Credit will replace any previous course grade and remove the previous grade from the calculation of the student’s GPA.
Credit/No Credit should be reserved for final grades when appropriate.
Use of Incompletes
Incompletes should be approved by the Dean of Students.
Students with IEP allowing for more time to complete course requirements can be issued Incompletes
Incompletes will be turned into Fs two weeks after the semester if they are not updated by the issuing teacher.
Incompletes should not be used if students have not completed assignments or assessments. Students should receive the grade they have earned to avoid receiving an automatic failing grade if the work is not completed.
Teachers can update letter grades up to two weeks after the end of the semester. Counselors should be notified of any grade change.
Research articles on grading best practices can be found here.
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