Academic Information

General

Teachers are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the New Hampshire State Frameworks and the Hopkinton Middle/High School curriculum when devising units, lesson plans and modes of assessment (see the district document explaining the UbD guiding principles for more complete information on unit and assessment design). These plans and assessment tools must correlate with these guidelines for instruction.

Aspen / X2 Parent Portal

Teachers are expected to update their teacher page on Aspen on a weekly basis with current assignments and projects that are to be completed outside of class. Grades must be updated on a bi-weekly basis in Aspen X2. Teachers are required to use the following three categories to enter their class assignments and assessments under in their grade books:

• 1. Formative (20%)

  2. Summative (80%)

  3. Practice & Preparation

Formative and Summative Assessments/Grading

Summative assessments must be 80% of the overall course grade. Formative assessments will be 20% of the overall grade. A total of ten meaningful graded assignments should be given per quarter. Of the ten graded assignments, there should be a minimum of two summative assessments per quarter with a target of three to four summative assessments being administered in an effort to assess students’ understanding of the content. The remaining graded assessments will be considered formative grades. All graded assignments (formative or summative) will be returned to students within 7-10 calendar days. This will ensure that all students have a chance to remediate summative assessments in a timely fashion.

Honors Courses

For students in Grades 9 and 10, honors sections of English, Social Studies, and Science courses are offered. (Contracts for honors-level work are available in many standard college-preparatory courses as well.) The following criteria must be met for admission into an honors section:

1) Students must achieve an average of 90% or above in the pre-requisite course.

2) Students must apply* to the appropriate teacher for admission into the honors section of a course.

* The application process may include any or all of the following requirements (portfolio as determined by the instructor): an interview, a writing sample, project, or a portfolio.

Honors sections establish and maintain high academic standards requiring a higher quality of work from students, as well as an increased workload. Students have the opportunity to be in an honors section in as many as three disciplines at one time based on aptitude, interest, and commitment

Honor Roll Gold/Honor Roll Silver – MS

The chart below describes the requirements for obtaining Honor Roll Gold or Honor Roll Silver in the middle school.

Recognition/Reward

At the beginning of the second, third and fourth quarters, members of the “Honor Roll Gold” or “Honor Roll Silver” list will have the opportunity to be served breakfast by faculty volunteers in the Family and Consumer Science room.

Students achieving “Honor Roll Gold” or “Honor Roll Silver” status for the first, second and third quarters will be rewarded at a school assembly with Hopkinton Middle School water bottle as recognition of their accomplishment.

High Honor Roll / Honor Roll – High School

If a student’s average is 93% or above, with no grade below 85%, s/he is eligible for the "High Honor Roll." If a student’s average is between 87% and 93%, with no grade below 80%, s/he is eligible for the "Honor Roll."

Reassessment Procedure/Plan

The goal of the reassessment plan is to provide students the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for proficiency while also ensuring that they appreciate and acquire the work habits required for success. To be clear, the spirit of the reassessment plan is not grade enhancement; reassessment is not recommended for students who have shown competency with grades of 80% or greater.

Tier 1 - Evidence Plan

Students will turn in clear evidence of preparation and practice prior to or at the time of any summative assessment. The standards for this evidence will be specifically stated by each academic department. Given that the student has demonstrated measurable effort and care for learning, the student will be eligible to receive whatever grade is achieved through the reassessment process.

Evidence includes: Teachers list what types of evidence they are going to require.

Tier 2 - Non-Evidence Plan

Students who do not turn in clear evidence of preparation and practice prior to or at the time of any summative assessment must complete the necessary requirements as prescribed by each academic department in order to reassess. Given that the student has not demonstrated measurable effort and care for learning prior to assessment, the student will be eligible to receive a competency grade of 70% on the reassessment.

* All reassessments must be completed within 10 school days of the assessment being returned to the student.

Unified Arts For Middle School

Session I Ends: Nov. 2nd

Session II Ends: Jan. 25th

Session III Ends: April 8th

Session IV Ends: Last day of school

Grading Scale

Competency Based Learning

Competency based credit acquisition has been mandated by the New Hampshire Department of Education. Competencies are defined as content, skills and understandings that are critically important to the students current and future academic success. In order to earn credit, students must demonstrate proficiency in all competencies with a grade of 70 and earn a grade of 70 or better to pass the course. Students who do not achieve a grade of 70 will need to remediate the competency (e.g. Academic Advisory, VLACS options, summer work) until a 70 is achieved or the student will need to repeat the course. Guidance approval is necessary to determine VLACS eligibility. Teachers articulate the course competencies in their course descriptions.

NCC - No Course Credit

The term NCC will be used in the event a student did not demonstrate proficiency in all competencies with a grade of 70 or better at the end of the quarter or at the end of the of the school year.

Interim Progress Reports (Two week Progress Reports, etc.)

If teachers receive a request to issue a two-week Progress Report they may assume the commitment has been made to a parent by either the Administration, Guidance, a Special Education team, or the Student Services Team (SST). It is therefore imperative that teachers comply with this request in a timely manner.

Progress Reports

Teachers have a responsibility to keep students regularly informed of their progress. Official progress reports are issued to all students in the middle of each quarter. Progress report dates are listed on the attendance cards. On or before these dates, it is expected that faculty members submit progress report grades to the Guidance office. If a student's grades reflect a significant drop in performance after progress reports have been issued, faculty members should inform the student and the parent of this situation.

**Teachers are reminded that progress report grades are used to determine eligibility for the Senior Privilege Program.

Mid-Year and Final Exams

All teachers will prepare a mid-year exam and final exam (teachers of a semester long course will prepare a final exam only) for each of their courses. Exceptions must be approved by the administration at the beginning of each school year (or the beginning of the 2^nd semester for a semester-long course). As indicated on the schedules that are produced at mid-term and at the end of the year, exams must be two hours in duration. For semester courses, the final exam grade will count as one-fifth of the final grade. For full year courses, the mid-year exam grade will be averaged with the final exam grade to equal one-fifth of the final grade.

Mid-year and final exams are expected to test the most important materials, ideas, and concepts covered in the course. The instructor should carefully design them so that they will give information about individual student growth and assist with evaluating the course itself. A balance of objective and essay problems should be used. The administration may review examinations as a function of its responsibility for the supervision and evaluation of staff.

If seniors are required to take a final exam, their finals will be held in a designated area and will be monitored by the administration. A separate schedule will be designed and developed to meet their needs.

Credit Recovery

Credit Recovery is a process by which a student can "recover" a credit in a failed class by attending summer school or completing a correspondence course. A Student's eligibility for credit recovery must be determined by their guidance counselor or teacher. Eligibility is determined by substituting a perspective summer school or correspondence course grade (75 if the course is pass/fail) for the lowest quarter grade. If the new average is above a 60, the student may take a summer school or correspondence course. Taking the course is not a guaranteed for credit recovery. A credit is recovered only if the new average with achieved grade is a 70 or above.

Audit

The opportunity to audit a course is provided for students who wish to learn a body of material in a regular classroom without the pressure of grades (and without the benefit of credit). The student attends the meetings of the class, does the work, takes the tests and quizzes, writes the papers, and participates in all of the learning activities. The course is listed on the report card and transcript of the student, but no grades are shown; instead, an indication of Audit is shown. The decision to audit a course must be made by the end of the drop/add period with permission of the instructor, guidance counselor, and administrator. The complete list of regulations regarding auditing a course is available in the guidance office.

Minimum Grade

For full year courses, teachers may assign students who fail any of the first two quarters a minimum grade of 50%. This should be done only at the teacher's discretion. Students who receive the minimum grade of 50% must pass at least two quarters in order to receive credit. The teacher must notify the guidance office that the administrative 50 was assigned.

Maximum Grade

No grade over 100 will be assigned for any given quarter.

Change of Grade Procedure

It is expected that a change of grade would be an unusual event and the result of such circumstances as a clerical error, or not recording work that was submitted. A change of grade is not to take place as the result of a student negotiating unearned points.

Barring exceptional circumstances, a change of grade for one of the above reasons should take place within one week of the issuance of report cards.

To change a grade, the teacher will need to complete the "Grade Change" form available in guidance. This form has been revised to include the reason for the grade change and administrative approval. Guidance will not effect a grade change that has not received prior approval by the administration.

Academic Advisory

All students are assigned an academic adviser to assist them in planning their academic program. The student’s academic adviser is listed on the student schedule page of X2. Students will meet with their advisors every Monday during the 30-minute advisory period.

The primary duties of the academic adviser include:

· meeting with students to review their academic progress

· assisting students as needed during the advisory time to plan their week’s schedules – make-ups, competency remediation, etc.

Study Halls (High School and Middle School)

It is expected that the atmosphere in Study Hall is conducive to learning. Students will be assigned to study halls and it is the duty of the teacher to ensure that a quiet and purposeful atmosphere that is conducive to learning exists. Guidelines include:

1) Students must sit in assigned seats and the teacher must take attendance.

2) Students must have permission to go to the rest room before they are allowed to leave the study hall. Only one student may leave at a time.

3) Students who wish to leave study hall during a regular period to see a teacher must have a signed pass.

4) Students may work in the library or computer lab if there is space available, as long as they sign out on the "Study Hall Sign-Out Sheet." The number of students for whom there is space in either location will be listed on the Daily Bulletin. Teachers should contact the library or computer lab to ensure the student arrived.

5) Teachers allowing students to work in the hall is discouraged in the high school and prohibited in the middle school. Teachers must remember that students in study halls are the responsibilities of the study hall teacher. If a teacher allows student to work in the hall frequent supervision is necessary.

Exhibition of Student Work

Since the decor of classrooms reflects our concern about education, it is important that bulletin board displays be incorporated into the curricula of classes and be updated regularly. Teachers should make every effort to display student work in the classroom and, when possible, in other areas of the school. Teachers should let the administration know if they need additional bulletin boards in order to help them to facilitate the hanging/showing of more student work.

Class Lists and Schedule Changes

Schedule changes must be approved and recorded using the "Drop/Add Request" form before the end of the first week in each semester. Teacher class lists should correspond to the master list in the guidance office and the main office. Teachers should update their file with the Guidance Office Manager to reflect any additions and/or deletions.

A student may not drop a course after the designated drop/add period. Under exceptional circumstances, a student may appeal to the administration to be allowed to drop a course. This will only be allowed when the student is carrying courses in excess of the number required. Established procedures will be followed, including the completion of a preliminary request form (available in Guidance) and a meeting of the student, parent(s), guidance counselor and administrator. Should the decision be made to allow the student to withdraw from the course, the student’s transcript will reflect that decision by zero credit being awarded. "WP" on the student's record will indicate that the student was passing at the time of withdrawal. "WF" will indicate that the student was failing at the time of withdrawal.