1. Work Habits: We want all students to take risks. We believe that mistakes are part of the learning process. This category is used as a communication tool to students and parents about the habits and skills necessary to be a successful student. This category is not heavily weighted in the gradebook and completion grades are used to communicate student participation in learning experiences in the classroom.
Example: engagement, effort, participation in class discussion, active listening, time management, turning in assignments, collaboration, being on time, taking notes, etc.
2. Learning and Practice: Students and teachers need information to inform next steps in the Learning Process. Assignments in this category build or assess student understanding of the content. These are checkpoints on a smaller number of standards within the unit. Feedback provides the teacher and student with information about student proficiency before the summative assessment is given. Feedback needs to be timely and specific to be useful. Feedback can come from self evaluation, peer feedback, or written / verbal feedback from the teacher. Assignments can be overwritten as students demonstrate a deeper understanding of the content.
Example: Check for Understanding, graded classwork and homework, discussions, rough drafts, labs, study guides
3. Proficiency: The majority of a student’s grade should reflect their proficiency or demonstrate a student’s cumulative knowledge on the content and skills in a unit of study. Care must be taken to provide multiple and varied opportunities to accurately assess students' understanding on the content. More recent assessment scores should be more heavily weighted or even replace the original score.
Example: tests, projects, research papers, presentations, panel discussions, speaking test, demonstrations, reports, essays, performances, etc. Anything that a teacher will use to determine a student’s knowledge of standards or mastery of content.
