Girard City School District
Bylaws & Policies
 

5421 - GRADING

The Board of Education recognizes its responsibility for providing a system of grading student achievement that can help the student, teachers, and parents judge properly how well the student is achieving the goals of the District's program.

The Board believes that the District's grading system should be a reliable system and one that ensures each student's grades signify accurately his/her degree of accomplishment of those expected learning outcomes which are to be stated for each program at every grade level, kindergarten through twelve.

The mandatory grade report date for all District staff shall be on the first calendar day following the last day of the preceding grading period; "report" means to input grades into the District's grading system so that the information can be accessed by the District's administrators as well as other persons having permitted access.

The Board directs the Superintendent to develop procedures for grading whereby the professional staff:
 

A.

develops clear, consistent criteria and standards particularly when grades are based on subjective assessment;
 
 

B.

helps each student understand in each course or program what behavior and/or achievement is needed to earn each grade as well as what will produce a failing grade;
 
 

C.

provides frequent opportunities for each student to obtain information as to his/her progress toward the learning goals of his/her courses or programs;
 
 

D.

provides for a pass/fail grade in programs for which it is appropriate;
 
 

E.

provides students the opportunity to assess both their own achievements and their areas of difficulty.

Since grades play such a significant role in the life of a student, it is imperative that the Board of Education's grading policy be implemented with as much professional expertise as can be applied. In determining grades at the various levels, staff should observe the following administrative guidelines.

Grade Reporting Date

The mandatory grade report date for all District staff shall be on the first calendar day following the last day of the preceding grading period; "report" means to input grades into the District's grading system so that the information can be accessed by the District's administrators as well as other persons having permitted access.

The grading scales will be as follows:

Reporting in grades K-3 will be by report card using the following marking system:
 

A

-

95

-

100

Excellent Achievement
 

A-

-

93

-

94

Excellent Achievement
 
 
 

B+

-

91

-

92

Good Achievement
 

B

-

87

-

90

Good Achievement
 

B-

-

85

-

86

Good Achievement
 
 
 

C+

-

82

-

84

Average Achievement
 

C

-

78

-

81

Average Achievement
 

C-

-

74

-

77

Average Achievement
 
 
 

D+

-

69

-

73

Poor Achievement
 

D

-

64

-

68

Poor Achievement
 

D-

-

60

-

63

Poor Achievement
 
 
 

F

-

0

-

59

Failure
 
 
 

O

-

Outstanding
 

S

-

Satisfactory
 

U

-

Unsatisfactory
 

I

-

Improving

Reporting in grades 4-12 will be by report card using the following marking system:
 

A

-

93

-

100

Excellent Achievement
 
 

B

-

85

-

92

Good Achievement
 
 

C

-

74

-

84

Satisfactory Achievement
 
 

D

-

60

-

73

Minimum Acceptable Achievement
 
 

F

-

Below Passing
 
 

P

-

Passing
 
 

I

-

Incomplete

The principal in collaboration with all teachers at a particular grade or of a particular course, shall develop an explanation of the criteria and standards that will be used to qualify a student to be graded excellent, good, satisfactory, minimum, or failing.

The explanation may not make use of normative (bell-curve) standards.

The explanation shall include among others, three (3) types of criteria:
 

A.

Current Accomplishment – what the student can consistently apply from what s/he has learned.
 
 

B.

Current Performances – what the student is learning as demonstrated by assignments and classroom activities
 
 

C.

Current Attitude – what behaviors the student demonstrates on a regular basis that reflect his/her willingness to learn and to function as a responsible student

In addition to a description of what each of the three (3) criteria (and any other the staff selects) consists of, the explanation should describe the quality (how well) of the accomplishment, performance, and attitude to differentiate outstanding from good, good from satisfactory, etc.

The teachers should also weight these criteria in terms of relative importance in determining the grade. Staff members need to agree on such issues as, for example:
 

A.

Should a student who does well in daily performance but has trouble making proper applications of the learning have his/her grade reduced? If so, by how much?
 
 

B.

Should a student's grade be reduced if his/her application meets standards but daily performance doesn't? If so, by how much?

To ensure consistency, all teachers at the grade or course level shall use the same criteria/standards in grading their students.

Each principal shall send a copy of these grading criteria/standards to all parents of children in these grades (or courses) prior to the first day of school and shall ensure that they are the basis for discussion and decision making at all parent conferences.

General Considerations

Students will receive one grade per subject at the end of each grading cycle.

No grade using + or – may be used on report cards in grades 4-12.

The final grading system to be used will be:
 

A.

In grades 4-6, a final grade will be determined by averaging the four 9-week periods.
 
 

B.

In grades 7-8, a final grade will be determined utilizing the following procedure:
 
 

First semester: 40%
 
 

Second semester: 40%
 
 

Final exam: 20%
 
 

C.

In grades 9-12, a final grade will be determined utilizing the following procedure:
 
 

First 9-week period: 40%
 
 

Second 9-week period: 40%
 
 

Final exam: 20%

R.C. 3313.20

Revised 3/19/08
Revised 8/18/09