Megan Courtney

1 of 5

Grading Policy: The class that I would like to be teaching one day in the future is a senior, in high school, civics course. To graduate from most school district, all seniors are required to take and pass the course. The class is a semester long and involves seven units. Beyond teaching the basics of how both the federal and state government works, the class is also meant bring an understanding of how our government came to be. It is also meant to help install good citizenship qualities into the students. The golden rules of grading are very important to any course work that is being used to inform students about their progress in the class. Students, teachers, and parents will use grades to determine how a student is doing in a particular class. If teachers are using formative assessments, students can begin to close gaps in knowledge. Grades need to accurately reflect how a student is performing so that if need be, changes can be made. Fairness: Students are graded by a similar and constant manner. Also, students are aware of how they are going to be graded before they begin the assignment. Any accommodations that need to be made are done so for students who need it. Accuracy: Students are aware of what they are being tested on and are given the opportunity to do what the teacher expects of them. Teachers use a similar rubric to grade the students so that the teacher stays on target on what is being graded. This way grades can reflect what the teacher is looking for. Consistency: The teacher uses a similar grading style from assignment to assignment. This way students can concentrate on improving their work as opposed to trying to determine how the work is to be graded. Defensibility: Teacher is able to explain to parents, students, and administrators how the grade was determined. Assignment prompts should accurately tell students what the teacher will be grading and how the teacher will be grading it. The teacher should be able to produce records on how the grade came about if need be. The entire process should be transparent. The purpose of this grading policy is to give students an accurate understanding of how well they are doing in the course. It is also to allow them an understanding of what they need to do to lesson the gaps between what they know and what they need to know for the course. Rubrics, particularly when they are detailed, are a great way to see where a student can improve. This grading policy will also fairly give students the grades that they have earned. It will also allow teachers to build a relationship with both students and parents so that the students needs are at the center of the conversation. Part 2: Grading Policies: Assessment Methods:

Megan Courtney Papers: Students will be asked to write 2-3 papers. Each paper will be double spaced, 2-3 pages in length.

2 of 5

Unit Assessments: At the end of each unit, there will be a summative exam. The exam will be a combination of multiple choice and short answers. Constitution Test: The constitution test is required for all high school students to pass to be allowed to graduate. It is a multiple-choice exam that will be factored in with the unit assessments. Projects: There will be two projects during the semester. Projects will contain a presentation that will be accompanied with some form of visual Debates: Teacher will facilitate at least two or three debates. Students are expected to come prepared with a notesheet from the readings the teacher provided. Homework: Teacher will assign homework through out the semester. Participation: Students will be expected to participate in daily discussion. Can also include ticket-out the doors and other work that the teacher decides to assign over the semester. While some of my classmates might disagree, I do believe that students should be rewarded for such things as turning their work in on time. Part of the hidden curriculum of any classroom is to give the students the skills theyll need to become well functioning adults. The way to do this is rewarding students now in the classroom, so that those skills can develop fully. At the most, this will account for 5% of any given grade, just enough to move a student from a high B to a low A. Justification: Papers: Students will be allowed to express opinions and form their own ideas in these papers Unit Assessments: Unit assessments allow for teachers to fully see if students have come to understand the information that they need to know Constitution Test: Is required by law for all students to pass to graduate. Projects: Projects allow students to go further in dept on topics. Debates: Since students will be debating politics through out their lifetime, it is important to begin those skills now. Homework: To allow guides on how students can begin studying. Participation: Students will be expected to participate in class and class activities.

Megan Courtney

3 of 5

Grade Weights: Papers: 15% Are more heavily graded since students are expected to produce well written work. Unit Assessments and Constitution Test: 20% While I feel that exams are an important way for students to show what they have learned over the semester, I dont want one failing grade to keep a student from feeling like they are going to fail and shut them out from learning. Projects: 20% Since they are larger and I expect that they will be putting more effort into the project I feel that they should receive more credit for them. Debates: 15% Debates are more formal than daily discussion and thus are expected to be weighed more heavily Homework: 15% Students will be expected to do homework and can move a student more than a letter grade if it is not completed. Participation: 15% This will include attendance in class, as well as daily class discussion. This will be informal and be more individualized to the student and their specific needs. Part 3 Grading Approach: My grading will be based on criterion-reference. I believe that students should receive the grade that the individual student earned. I also feel limiting the number of As can hamper students from trying their best. Also, it has been my experience that at times students rely on curves to get better grades than they may have originally earned. Grades will be broken down in this fashion: 0-59% = F 60-69% = D 70-79% = C 80-89% = B 90-100% = A

Megan Courtney

4 of 5

Part II: Motivation and Academic Performance: If the school moves to reward student performance with a monetary reward, we will be fostering a community where students are learning for the sake of earning grades. All students will move to route memorization and not attempt to engage the material on a deeper level. The monetary reward becomes an extrinsic motivation. When extrinsically motivated, students begin to feel that they are getting paid for their grades, the school should see an increase in grades in the short-term. Students will increase productivity so that they can earn the reward. However, as time goes on and students begin to feel bogged down with work, their grades will slip back to what they feel is acceptable. Since there is no punishment, other than the punishment of a bad grade and not receiving the reward, students will not be concerned if they do not earn the monetary reward. If asked if they are receiving the reward, students can simply say that they are. Their classmates would not know otherwise. So grades most likely will not change in the long run. The school should be rewarding improvement, so that students can continue to learn how to engage. Students who earned the reward one quarter or trimester might not the next if their grades do not stay the same or improve. This also allows students who might not be able to reach an A or B in class to continue to work. The rewarding, however, needs to also not segregate or identify students. Their student IDs nor binders should identify whether they are improving in their classes or not. Perhaps offering vouchers to attend school events for free or ask businesses to offer coupons to local restaurants and stores.

Megan Courtney

5 of 5

Part III: Communicating with Parents Margaret is obviously a great student in both math and science as both her grades and ISAT. From this, I can imagine that these are two of her favorite classes, as her participation and effort is perfect in science. However, she is missing an assignment in both classes, or the score on assignments are not perfect. Completing all assignments due is an easy way to raise her grade from a B+ in math to an A-. One discrepancy I see in the ISAT, is that Margarets math scores seem lower than they should be, as compared to her test scores in class. This might be due to the limited time given on the test. I feel Margaret will continue to improve in this area as she continues in her education. Obviously In my own social studies classroom, however, Im seeing a lack of participation and effort made into the subject. While her homework is being completed, her exam scores dont reflect what she should know. Participating more in class will help with the low scores. Margaret can also work on study habits to help increase her scores on both social studies and English exams. As for her English homework, I can see that the low scores improved over time. However, if Margaret is unsure of how the homework assignment is to be completed, she should contact her teacher immediately. The ISAT has scores Margaret in below average. First, I would like to point out that Margaret received a perfect score on her extended response, which is excellent. Her struggles come from the multiple-choice section of the exam. I suggest working on the skills tested, which should also help her performance in English.