Grading

Pershing Middle School has standard categories for all core, foreign language, and elective courses (except Fine Arts and PE).  Each category is assigned a weight and minimum number of grades so that no one assignment counts more than 20% of a student’s overall grade.  A minimum of 2 grades will be assigned each week.  Teachers will post grades on a weekly basis. 

Definition of categories:

• Classwork/Quizzes is an activity or task that allows a teacher and a student to identify what students already know, or have learned, as well as areas for intervention and remediation. Class work can include an activity or task that a student performs or works at repeatedly for the purpose of improving or achieving proficiency.  Participation is not an adequate form of assessment so no grades will be given for participation only (except Fine Arts and PE).  Major projects are not considered classwork.  Weight = 50%

• Homework is designed to deepen understanding and encourage a love of learning. Assignments should have clear instructions and performance expectations so students can complete their work independently.  Homework should be an extension of what has already been learned and does not expect students to have to learn new concepts.  Teachers should provide timely feedback for students regarding their learning.  Major projects are not considered a homework grade.  Weight = 10%

• Tests/Performance Assessments/Projects (at least two per cycle) are assessments based on the district’s standards-based curriculum that measure the skills and knowledge that a student has mastered. Specifically, performance assessments are assessments based on observation and judgment of the quality of a skill or product. Performance assessments are products, performances, and projects (e.g., essay artwork, visual representations, models, multimedia, oral presentations/recitations, lab experiences, live/ recorded performances). Weight = 40%

Absences

Students who have absences will be given 1 day or until the next time the class meets (upon receipt of missing assignments) for every day of absences to turn in their missing assignments.  It is the student’s responsibility to request the missing assignment from the teacher.

Late Work (not associated with an absence)

Students are expected to turn assignments in by the due date; however, we understand that situations may arise that cause an assignment to be late from time to time.  If a teacher grants a student permission to turn in an assignment late, the student must turn it in the next school day.  Work received after the next school day will be considered late and students will receive 10 points off.  After two days, late work does not have to be accepted.  Students with an extended time accommodation will be provided a due date that complies with that accommodation.  Assignments not turned in will still be recorded as a 0 (zero).

Test Reassessment

Teachers must provide students an opportunity for reassessment for major tests/performance assessments/projects when the grade received on an assessment is below a 70.  Teachers will reassess students on the same skill; however, a different variation of the assessment may be given at the teacher’s discretion.  All reassessments must be completed within one week from the time the assessment is returned to the student.  A student’s grade in the gradebook for any reassessment will be an average of the original and new grade. 

Incomplete Six Week Averages

A teacher may give a grade of “Incomplete” for a grading cycle to any student who does not complete assignments or assessments due to absences or other extenuating circumstances. The grade of “Incomplete” must be resolved by the end of the next grading cycle immediately following the grading cycle in which the incomplete was first given.

Midterms and Final Exams (High School Credit Courses only)

In all high school credit courses, the final exam will count for 10% of the student’s final grade. Students may not retake a final exam to receive a higher score.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty or academic misconduct is any type of cheating that occurs in relation to a formal academic exercise.  Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to the following:

CHEATING

Cheating includes the following:

• Obtaining work or information from someone else.
• Using unauthorized notes, or study aids, or information from another student or student’s paper on an examination.
• Communicating answers with another person during an exam.
• Altering graded work after it has been returned, and then submitting the work for re-grading.
• Allowing another person to do one’s work.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is representing someone else’s ideas, words, statements, or other work as one’s own without proper acknowledgment or citation. Examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying word for word, using specific phrase or terms from a source or reference, whether oral, printed, or on the internet, without proper attribution.
• Paraphrasing (using another person’s written words or ideas) as if they were one’s own thought.

If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing, you will be assigned a grade of zero for the assignment.