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A new Student Progress Reporting System will take effect in the fall of 2010 after years of study.  The end result establishes common procedures and provides information for students, parents, and teachers to reflect on strengths and needs in learning, demonstrate progress, and evaluate the mastery of course learning targets.    Perhaps most importantly, this new reporting system will consistently communicate student learning and behaviors not only to students, parents, and teachers, but also to counselors, administrators, and coaches, as well as college admission personnel and employers.    Teachers across the school district and at Spring Lake Park High School have made significant progress over the past five years towards assessment practices to improve student learning. Throughout the past two years, a group of high school teachers worked together to identify, pilot, and evaluate various strategies to improve assessment and reporting of student progress to students and parents (often referred to as the "Grading Pilot").

• There were no common procedures for grading at the high school.
• Students earning As on assessments were failing the course because they did not complete homework. This grade did not reflect student learning.
• Students earning Fs on assessments were passing the course because they work hard. This grade did not reflect student learning.

• Consistently communicate student learning and behaviors to students, parents, and others (teachers, counselors, administrators, coaches, college admissions, employers, etc.)
• Provide information to allow students, teachers, and parents to reflect on strengths and needs in student learning; demonstrate progress; and evaluate mastery of course learning targets.

• documents achievement or mastery of learning targets at a given point in time
• aligns to assessments for learning
• comes in a variety of forms, for example: tests, essays, projects, research papers

• informs students and parents about progress toward learning targets
• informs students about errors in their understanding, reasoning, or products
• directs teachers about instruction for today, tomorrow, and next week
• informs teachers about individuals or groups with common errors that need additional support
• prepares students for summative: assessment of learning

• Corrected in class or answers are provided
• Individual feedback is not provided
• Used to practice skill development

• signifies what students know and can do in the course
• is based on meeting the course learning targets, not a comparison of one student to another
• is calculated from multiple summative: assessments of learning that are used by all teachers of the course
• summative: assessments of learning will vary in type, for example: paper—pencil tests, projects, essays, speeches, performances, and products
• is organized by learning target to identify what students have mastered and are still learning
• is based on individual work, not group work

• is based on formative: assessments for learning, practice exercises, and behaviors that promote success
• shows strengths and weaknesses in skills that will be required for college, career, and life such as turning work in on time, behaving ethically, working well with others, attending class and arriving on time.

• Academic grade is made up of summative assessments (e.g. tests, projects, presentations) aligned to the learning targets.
• The academic grade will be worth 90% of the final course grade.
• Extra credit or bonus points are not a part of the academic grade.
• Group scores are not included in the academic grade.

• Career & life skills grade is made up of:

Formative: Assessments for Learning

Aligns to summative: assessments of learning Informs students about progress toward learning target(s) Informs students about errors in their understanding, reasoning, or products

Practice Exercises

Used to practice skill development Answers provided or corrected in class Individual feedback is not provided

Other skills identified by the teacher (50% of Career & Life Skills Grade) Timeliness Academic Honesty Leadership Etc.

• The career & life skills grade is based on formative assessments, practice exercises, and identified skills and will be worth 10% of the final course grade.
• Daily exercises will not receive credit if turned in after their corresponding summative assessment is turned in.
  

• Summative assessments do have deadlines.
• If students are absent for a test, tests are typically made up within two days; however, teachers may set deadlines based on individual student circumstances.
  

• If a summative assessment is less than 50%, missing, or incomplete, the score will be recorded in the grade book as missing (m). A missing score (m) is calculated as a zero if no assessment evidence is available at the end of the trimester.
• In order to change the (m) to a grade, the student must make arrangements with the teacher. Missing grades may not be changed after the trimester unless circumstances warrant that the student receives an incomplete (I) grade.