Conduct Grade & WRITING Remarks

Conduct Grade: Definition 

•For the purposes of conduct grade, conduct is defined as the demonstrated behaviour, values, and attitudes of a student.

•Conduct can be evidenced from various sources, including but not limited to:

•Behaviour in class, CCA, school events, in cyberspace

•Submission of work

•Attitude towards others, including staff, peers, parents, the community 

•Minor and major offences

•Conduct grade can but need not be tied to personal qualities or school values.

•PQs and/or school values can be used for developmental feedback for students rather than evaluation.

•Conduct should not be evaluated based on:

•academic performance, home background, periods absent from school

Conduct Grade Descriptors 

Guiding Principles (Draft) 

a.Conduct grade serves to indicate a student’s demonstration of conduct matched to fixed standards. It is criterion-based, not norm-based.

i.As such, conduct grade should not be assigned based on a quota system, bell curve distribution, or a student’s conduct relative to others.

ii.If a student commits one or more serious offences, he/she should not be awarded a “Good” or better conduct grade for the semester.

b.Conduct grade should reflect progress shown by a student over the year.

i.As such, conduct grade should be assigned twice a year to give students a chance to improve their behaviour or maintain good behaviour.

c.Award of conduct grade should be holistic and take into consideration the student’s demonstration of conduct in different contexts. Various sources of data may be used in the computation of each student’s conduct grade, including SOM data and teacher observations.

d.To promote fairness and transparency, students should be informed of conduct grade descriptors and the school’s expectations.

i.Schools could provide this information in the student handbook and share it with students and parents.

ii.As part of empowering students to take ownership of their learning and growth, teachers could engage students in discussions on how to demonstrate good conduct (e.g. as part of CCE lessons), and encourage them to monitor and review their own conduct over the year.

e.The processes involved in computing conduct grade should not be overly onerous and create too much work for teachers, e.g. complicated scoring rubrics that Form and subject teachers need to complete for all students taught by them, and extensive calibration and grading meetings. Nonetheless, the Student Development Team (SDT) should maintain oversight by reviewing the distribution of conduct grades across levels to ensure no unhealthy skew or variances.