Middle School Math - Grades and Understanding the Gradebook

You will notice that the grades in the gradebook are different than you might have experienced in classes prior to this one.

Each quarter will have a set number of learning targets that are being taught and evaluated. The learning targets are directly tied to the Missouri standards for mathematics and are often rewritten or broken down to make them easier to understand and assess. The quarter grade will then be calculated based on how many learning targets have been mastered. This means that there will be two major grading changes from traditional grading.

Rather than seeing "Unit 1 Test" in the gradebook, you will see separate grades for each learning target.

Unit 1 in 8th Grade Math, for example, consists of 7 separate learning targets and therefore 7 separate gradebook items.

Unit 1 in Honors Algebra 1 consists of 4 separate learning targets and therefore 4 separate gradebook items.

Each learning target will be marked according to the following scale:

Expert: Student can demonstrate understanding of the learning target with accuracy.
Proficient: Student can demonstrate understanding of the learning target with minor errors.
Getting Started: Student can demonstrate some understanding of the learning target but have major/conceptual errors.
Not Yet: Student has attempted to show work related to the learning target, but cannot yet demonstrate understanding.
Insufficient Evidence: Student has not yet shown sufficient evidence of attempting the skills addressed in the learning target.

Rather than seeing a grade throughout the quarter, the grade will be calculated at the end of the quarter.

A traditional percentage will not be shown for each individual learning target, but you will be able to see how your student scored on each learning target by looking at the comments on PowerSchools. The table below shows how those learning targets will be calculated into a grade at the end of the quarter, so students can follow along as the quarter progresses.

Students will have the opportunity to keep working on mastery of each learning target even after the test, given they have corrected their mistakes and have completed required practice. This means that they can improve their mastery level (which in turn improves their score for the quarter).

Homework is not included in students' grades in this class. Counting homework as 0% of a grade gives students the opportunity to learn from the work without risk. Homework will be given daily and still needs to be completed. When you see homework in the gradebook, the assignment won't effect the students' quarter grade. The gradebook is simply functioning as a way for students (and parents) to track their progress on assigned work.

Students may ask questions over the homework when they submit it in class, which gives them a chance to reflect on what they are understanding and what they need more help on. Completed work will be returned to students with feedback, and students will be asked to continue working on those assignments if they haven't yet demonstrated an understanding of the related learning targets. While updating the homework does not change the student's grade, it does change the mark from missing or incomplete to complete to show a clear picture of how well a student is doing throughout the unit. Completing all of the homework leading up to an assessment is required before a retake will be allowed.

Also of note:

Homework will be shared to our Homework List & Google Classroom
Assignments are intended to take no longer than 30 minutes per day
- - If you find that you are spending more than that, please make a plan to chat with Dr. Koenig so we can troubleshoot

We believe that our material is important to master, even if that means continuing to work after a unit is over. To that end, tests (and individual learning targets) can be retaken in order to master learning targets not previously mastered.

In order to retake a learning target, the student will need to do three things:

The retake will consist of new questions that assess the same learning targets. When students retake a test, we will represent the most recent scoring for each learning target in the gradebook, even if the most recent scores are lower than the original. The goal is for students to take charge of their learning and to honor the idea that learning does not stop just because we had an assessment. Students are able to, but not required to, retake any learning target (even multiple targets, if need be).

Quarters will typically consist of two tests, one of which will often fall right at the end of the quarter. It is advisable to be in tune with retakes shortly after each assessment, to prevent an overload of too many learning targets for you to focus on at one time.