6146.1   Grading and Reporting System

P6146.1(a)

Instruction 

Grading and Reporting System 

The purpose of the Windsor Locks High School grading policy is to establish a set of guiding principles that all district educators will use to establish a system of grading that fairly, clearly, accurately, and consistently communicates student learning progress and achievement.

A. Communicating the Grading System

To ensure that every student and family has the information and resources they need to understand and appropriately plan a student’s educational decisions, our schools, educators, and staff will clearly and consistently communicate—prior to entering high school and throughout the student’s educational career—all important and relevant information related to the grading systems used in Windsor Locks High School.

The Superintendent, through the Principal or other designee, shall be responsible for ensuring that accurate, up-to-date information concerning the Windsor Locks High School grading system is (1) readily available to all incoming students and their families in the spring preceding the start of each school year, and (2) published on the district and high school websites. A detailed guide to grading and reporting practices will be disseminated to all incoming ninth-grade students and their families at the beginning of the Freshman year. This policy will also be referenced in each edition of the student handbook and on the district and high school websites. As soon as it is practical and feasible, the Board expects the Superintendent or designee to inform all students and their families of any modifications made to the grading system.

B. Academic Grading

All grading and reporting practices at Windsor Locks High School will reflect the following design characteristics:

1. The primary purpose of the grading system shall be to fairly, clearly, accurately, and consistently communicate learning progress and achievement to students, families, postsecondary institutions, potential employers, and other relevant stakeholders and audiences.

2. The grading system shall be designed to ensure that students, families, teachers, counselors, advisors, and support specialists have the detailed information they need to make important decisions about a student’s education.

3. The grading system will measure, report, and document student mastery against a set of clearly defined cross-curricular and content-area graduation standards developed by the administration, faculty, and staff of Windsor Locks High School, and approved by the Windsor Locks Board of Education.

4. The grading system will measure, report, and document academic progress and achievement separately from Habits of Scholarship, character traits, and behaviors.

5. The grading system will ensure consistency and fairness in the assessment of learning, and in the assignment of scores and mastery levels, across students, teachers, assessments, learning experiences, content areas, and time.

6. The grading system will include a method for calculating a weighted grade point average (GPA) for the purpose of determining Latin Honors distinctions at graduation.

C. Habits of Scholarship Grading

All grading and reporting practices for Habits of Scholarship, character traits, and behaviors at Windsor Locks High School will reflect the following design characteristics:

1. The Windsor Locks High School administration, faculty, and staff will develop and apply a common set of Habits of Scholarship standards, and rubric-based scoring criteria, that teachers will use to grade students on work habits, character traits, and/or behaviors.

2. The Habits of Scholarship grading system will measure, report, and document habits of work, character traits, and behaviors separately from academic progress and achievement. A student achieving a high level of academic mastery may demonstrate a low level on Habits of Scholarship, and vice versa.

3. Habits of Scholarship will be monitored over the duration of a learning experience and scores, as measured and determined using common assessment methods and scoring criteria, will be reported for each student at the end of a term or grading period.

4. The Habits of Scholarship grading system will ensure consistency and fairness in the assessment of work habits, and in the assignment of scores and mastery levels, across students, teachers, assessments, course, learning experiences, content areas, and time.

5. Habits of Scholarship grades shall be communicated using the one (1) to four (4) performance levels indicated on the rubric.

6. Habits of Scholarship grades will be unweighted and will be indicated on report cards and the official Windsor Locks High School transcript as a separate average from the academic grade point average.

D. Grading Courses and Learning Experiences

Windsor Locks High School will employ a consistent system of grading that reports student learning progress and achievement across two aligned categories on a 6.0 point scale that aligns Standards Levels with Standards Descriptions. The point scale will be used for the purpose of calculating out averages for colleges/universities in the student's senior year. Note: GPA is calculated at the conclusion of each student’s Junior (11th grade) year.

Standards Descriptions are as follows:

Exceeding Mastery/4.0 - Exceeds Standards: Student applies skill in a complex and authentic manner.

Meeting Mastery/3.0 - Masters Standards: Student demonstrates skill independently and in a variety of ways.

Minimally Meeting Mastery/2.6 - Progresses Toward Standard: Student demonstrates timely, appropriate growth towards.

Not Meeting Mastery /2.4 and below - Limited Progress Toward Standard: Student demonstrates minimal growth.