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Policies and general information » School Wide Grading Policy

School Wide Grading Policy

Philosophy: 
  1. Grades are the common language through which students, teachers, families, school leaders, and field staff communicate about students’ learning throughout the school year. Grades provide feedback to students and families about academic progress, influence students’ motivation and engagement in their learning, inform instructional and programmatic decisions, and shape postsecondary outcomes (NYC DOE Grading Policy Toolkit).
  2. It is the responsibility of the Principal to assure that grading criteria are established for each subject area. The individual teacher is responsible for evaluating each student’s academic achievement based on the established grading criteria and issuing a grade reflective of that assessment.
  3. Grades are an evaluation instrument and not a disciplinary device.
  4. Grading criteria shall include a number of factors, such as summative and formative assessments, homework assignments, and classwork.
  5. At the beginning of each term, every teacher shall explain to students orally and in writing the grading criteria that will be used for evaluating their academic performance.
  6. The grading policy is accessible on the school’s website. A copy of the grading criteria shall be maintained on file in the Principal’s office.
  7. Absences due to illness verified by a medical note, hospitalization, death in the family, religious observance, required court or immigration appearances, attendance at health clinics, approved college visits, approved cooperative work programs, school trips, and similar situations are considered to be excused absences and the student should be given one week in which to make up exams, projects, class work, etc. Students with absences (excused and unexcused) must be given the opportunity to make up any missed test or assignments.
  8. For in-house suspensions and classroom removals the student must be provided with work.
  9. Late work policy (updated by SLT starting in Fall 2024):

    • Formative Assessments (Homework and Classwork)– Students have up to three days after the assignment is due to hand in missed or late formative assignments. Assignments that are turned in within this timeframe will count towards the final semester grade but may not be reflected in the current marking period report card grade. Each assignment that is handed in late due to non-completion or any unexcused absence can be docked with a penalty that cannot exceed 10% of the assignment grade.

    • Summative Assessments (Projects, Research Papers, Essays, Presentations, etc.) - Students have up two weeks after the summative assignment/assessment is due to hand in any missed or late summative assignments (projects, research papers) from that marking period. Assignments that are turned in within this timeframe will count towards the final semester grade but may not be reflected in the current marking period report card grade. Each assignment that is handed in late due to non-completion or any unexcused absence can be docked with a penalty that cannot exceed 15% of the assignment grade.

Assignments that are turned in late due to an excused absence defined above (#7), will not be docked; the student must provide documentation for the absence. Students are still expected to submit missing work in a mutually agreed upon timeframe with the teacher depending upon each individual students’ situation.
 
A teacher has the discretion to create makeup assignments for students who miss a significant amount of work and are interested in improving their grade. This can be either by marking period or at the end of the semester.
This grading policy is applicable for all grade assessments except College Board, Regents, NYSESLAT and other State exams beyond our control. Please note that this update to the grading policy was approved by SLT in spring of 2024.
 
Situational Examples:

  • Unexcused absence/Summative Assessment - A student missed submitting an essay the last week of the marking period due to an unexcused absence. The essay was due on May 2nd and the marking period ended on May 3rd. The student submitted the essay on May 15th, received an 85 on the assignment and was docked 10 points due to lateness. The final grade of 75 on the essay will be counted towards the final grade of the semester. Since the essay was not turned in on time, the grade was not reflected in the 2nd marking period report card.

  • Excused Absence/Summative Assessment - A student missed a test due to a death in the family. The test was scheduled for March 1st and the student made up the exam on March 19th. The student received a 93 and no points are docked. Since it was after the first marking period, the grade will be calculated in for the final grade of the class and the first marking period grade reflected the missing test.

  • Unexcused Absence/Formative Assessment – A student missed 2 homework assignments on April 9th and April 11th. The student turns them in April 12th. This is within the three days, so the student will lose 10% of the homework score and the assignment will be counted in the second marking period grade.

  • Unexcused Absence/Formative Assessment – A student missed 2 homework assignments on April 9th and April 11th. The student requests to turn in the missing homework on May 2nd. The teacher does not have to accept the homework.

  1. Parental engagement is a key component to a student’s success. Teachers must notify parents/guardians by telephone, by email, or in writing, before a student receives a failing grade for each marking period, or a grade significantly lower than previously reported progress. Teachers must maintain a parental outreach log to record communication between the teacher and parent/guardian.

  2. A student may not be academically penalized for serving a suspension.

Core Grading Policy
 
Each department has its own grading policy aligned to the school wide policy. All teachers and all departments will follow this school wide breakdown of grading components:
 
Summative Assessments:                                                                40-50%
Overall testing will account for no less than 40% and not more than 50% of the student’s grade. Each teacher establishes the specific weight of this criterion in a uniform manner for all students in his-her classes.

  • Exams and Quizzes - Class based unit tests, quizzes, essays, etc.

  • Projects, performances, tasks, presentations, lab reports, etc.-Teachers can provide challenging projects/literacy tasks for their students based on their ability levels and the scope and sequence of the course. Projects should enhance students’ reading, writing, critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Formative Assessments:
 
Homework                                                                                        10-20% 

  • Homework as practice or preparation for instruction may account for no more than 20 percent of students’ overall grade. Homework should be viewed as formative, allowing for practice of new skills and knowledge.

  • Each teacher shall provide a grading criteria for homework at the start of the semester which is used uniformly to grade homework.

  • Homework assignments should be due no earlier than the next class period; students should receive at least 24 hours from the assignment of the homework to the due date. Teachers should message the assignment in class by posting it on the board and best practice is to also post it in the Google Classroom. Teachers should not assign a HW assignment via email or solely posting on Google classroom, assign a HW assignment after the school day to be due the next day, or assign something to be due the same day that it is assigned. This applies to school breaks as well; no work should be due during the school break (updated by SLT starting in Fall 2024) .

  • Students should not be expected to do “extra” homework or assignments over extended weekends or school vacations. Like staff, students need time to travel, enjoy holidays, and relax. Regular homework due the next school day is acceptable over breaks. The only exception is students who are completing make-up work; a break can be used to complete some missing assignments as arranged with the teacher (updated by SLT starting in Fall 2024).

Skills Assessment

  • Physical Education skills assessment

Classwork                                                                                             30-40%

  • This component of each student’s grade is determined by the quality and frequency of each student’s performance in class activities, including written assignments, oral recitations and presentations, participation in group and individual activities, exercises, discussions, and projects.

  • Students should be provided with a clear grading criteria for classwork tasks. In this area students shall be graded objectively on the basis of their work product.

  • Students’ ability to participate in verbal classroom activities such as cultural or psychological background, learning disabilities, and/or limited familiarity with English should not be used to penalize a student.

  • Students’ participation in class activities must be evaluated and recorded by the teacher on a regular basis. Class participation is not a category unto itself. Teachers should not assign arbitrary scores to students for class participation.

Each of the above three factors must be a component of the students’ grade. The specific weight given to each of the above components which contribute to determining students’ course grades shall be established by the department and teacher in an objective and uniform manner the general range of parameters that have been established by the consensus of the department.
 
Report Card Grades
The School Leadership Team met in the spring of 2022 to discuss numeric grades. The SLT came to a consensus that report card grades are to be numeric.

  1. Grades are recorded three times per semester.

    • Marking period grades are numeric. A grade of 65 and above indicates the student is passing. Grades will be increments of one from 65 through 100. The only grade to be used to indicate failing is 55. Attendance may not be used as a basis for grading.

    • Marking period grade report cards are progress reports. It informs the student and parent as to what their status is in the class. Overall grades are cumulative (Please note an overall grade is NOT an average of the three marking periods. The overall grade is cumulative and reflects the grading components outlined in the policy).

  1. Incomplete (NX): A grade of Incomplete (‘NX’) may be awarded only if a student has a documented, extreme extenuating circumstance that prevents them from completing the course in its established timeframe (for example, surgery or a death in the family). The guidance counselor is the only person who can determine if a student should receive an NX. To give an NX, the guidance counselor will provide the teacher with the directive that the student can receive an NX. ’‘NX’ does not have a pass/fail or a numeric equivalent. A student who receives an incomplete must successfully complete the remaining course requirements by the end of the term following the termination of the course to receive a final grade and credit, as applicable.

  2. No Show (NS): A grade of “NS” is given to a student who fails to attend a course and does not participate in any of the work from which a grade can be derived. “NS” has a pass/fail equivalent of fail and a default numeric equivalent of 45. This grade is reserved for students who have never attended class.

  3.  Late Entry (NL): A grade of “NL” is given to students who are placed in a course after it has started, may have missed assignments or assessments needed to generate a complete course grade for a given marking period. “NL” does not have a pass/fail or numeric equivalent. Students who receive a mark of “NL” must successfully complete remaining course requirements by the end of the term following the termination of the course in order to receive a final grade and credit, as applicable.

  4. Principal’s Suspensions: Teachers are required to provide work to students who are on a principal’s suspension. The Dean’s Office will request the work from the teacher and the teacher must provide the work in a timely manner.

  5. Superintendent Suspensions: Students report to a DOE suspension site and are provided work by a DOE teacher. Grades are submitted to the subject teacher upon their return. This work must be included in your calculations of that student’s grade for that marking period. Grades will be provided by a DOE teacher for students on long term suspension.

  6. Home Instruction: Grades will be provided by a DOE teacher for students on long term home instruction.

  7. Change of Student Grades (final grade) - Once grades are finalized, a teacher can request a grade change as per guidance from Academic Policy (either by grade calculation error or grade update based on completion of coursework from an approved NX grade based on documentation.