Grading Policy
In this course, our main focus is for each student to understand the concepts of History and be able to
apply them. In order to best promote and support students’ learning, we are going to shift our
assessment practices so students will have a clear understanding of what they are expected to know and
be able to do. Students will be given many opportunities to practice these skills and work to master the
content through classroom activities and penalty- free quizzes before showing what they know on our
summative tests. Students will frequently be asked to self-assess their understanding, and to work in
pairs, small groups, or as a class to improve each others’ comprehension. Students will be receiving
grades of 0-1-2-3 that relate to their level of mastery. 3= 80-100%, 2= 50-79%, 1=1-49%, 0=0. As you can
tell there is a great deal of room for the 1/2 level to improve, these are considered developing learners
and will most likely need remediation. The combination of 1/2/3 grades will contribute to the student’s
overall grade and will be falling within the traditional range of 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D
and below 59=F.
In-class activities
Students will be given in-class activities/formative quizzes/notes checks to practice their skills
individually on a regular basis. These assignments are critical for students to expand their
understanding, and will give both the students and me an opportunity to check their comprehension of
small chunks of material before moving on. It is very important that the students attempt and give
serious thought to all problems, as our difficult content is best learned through this individual practice
and sometimes struggle. Assignments will be discussed and checked, giving the students the
opportunity to ask questions of each other and me to further increase their understanding. Students
will be getting a grade of: g- for good effort/good standing, p-for participated/good faith effort (both of
which will count toward retake policy), n- for no effort/weak effort, and 0- for no work at all (both of
which would have to be redone to be eligible for retakes).
Summative Tests
At the end of each section/unit of material, we will have a test where students will be asked to show
that they have mastered the material, can perform the necessary skills, and can apply concepts. These
tests will be the great majority of students’ grades each quarter. Students will be able to retake any test
to show their mastery (provided that they are in good standing as listed above, if not in good standing all
n/p work will need to be made up and then student will become eligible).
Projects/Simulations
There may be a few projects/simulations or other classroom assignments where students will be asked
to apply previous knowledge to real-life tasks or in-depth problems. These assignments may be graded
and count toward students’ grades.
Retake Policy
Each student has the option to retake each test. The higher score will remain (no one can lose points).
If you want to retake a test you must meet these conditions: have all homework from the unit complete
with a g/p score, meet with me to go over material that you have further questions about, schedule a
time for your retake.