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 of 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

  • Elementary K-3

    • Each grade level within a school shall be responsible for providing a written document to parents explaining the grading guidelines and how parents can be given access through Schoology.

    • Each grade-level document must be reviewed by the principal Improvement Team.

    • Upon approval, the grade-level document shall be shared with parents within the first two weeks of school.

    • If a student withdraws, the teacher must print the student’s scores from Schoology for all content areas.

    Elementary 4-5

    • Each grade level within a school shall be responsible for providing a written document to parents explaining their grading guidelines and how parents can access grades in PowerSchool. 

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

    • Upon approval, the grade-level document shall be shared with 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 the 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, and 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.