GCS Grading Practices/Guidelines for Grades 3-12

  • General Guidelines

    Purpose: To provide direction to all teachers in expected grading practices.

    Expectations:

    • Grading practices shall be reviewed annually by the principal and School Improvement Team.
    • Academic grades shall be a content-based measure of what students are able to demonstrate. 
    • Grading shall provide appropriate and accurate feedback to the students and parents. 
    • Grades shall reflect performance that is consistent with demonstrated achievement on the goals of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

    Guiding Documentation

    Purpose: Written documentation of how a grade is derived is essential for communicating with parents.

Elementary

  • • Each grade level within a school shall be responsible for providing a written document to parents explaining their grading guidelines.

    • Each grade level’s document must be approved by the principal.

    • Upon approval, the grade level document shall be sent home and signed by parents within the first two weeks of school.

Middle

  • • All teachers are required to have a course outline for each course taught.

    • The course outline must be approved annually by the administration.

    • The course outline must be communicated annually to students and parents via website and/or handout.

    • The course outline must include the breakdown of the grading plan to include percentages or points.

    • The course outline must include a list of classroom procedures.

High

  • • All teachers shall be required to give the Principal or his designee and students a course syllabus that contains at least the course title, course description, general curriculum topics to be covered, materials, grading practices which may include an example of a calculated student grade, classroom procedures including behavior management, teacher contact information. Course syllabi must be distributed to all students within the first week of the semester, or student enrollment. Principals shall review each course syllabus annually.