Progress Reports and Scholarship warnings were handed out as follows:1st Period - Wednesday, March 6, 2013
2nd Period - Monday, March 4, 2013
3rd Period - Wednesday, March 6, 2013
4th Period - Thursday, March 21, 2013
5th Period - Thursday, March 21, 2013
7th Period - Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do you determine grades?
Grades are determined based on the student's knowledge of the subject matter. Students are given assignments to build their knowledge, but receive credit with correct answers and proof of knowledge.
I do all of my work, how did I get a D or F?
Grades are determined by correct responses, not by completion. Any random answer is not going to count as correct. Students must demonstrate that they can meet or master the standards.
How come [Student B] has a better grade than me and I do more work?
While [Student B]'s grades are not something I can discuss with you, as each student has a right to their own privacy, they obviously demonstrated better knowledge of the subject matter. While you may have completed more work, in the few assignments or tests [Student B] has completed or taken, he/she has demonstrated a better knowledge of the subject matter.
Why is it that I've never turned in an assignment, but I have a grade?
Knowledge can be demonstrated in multiple ways. First, most students have taken at least one of the three Benchmark exams. These exams tested the knowledge of each students for every standard covered in the course. This provides some data on a student's knowledge and is used when no other data is available. Second, students are accessed in multiple ways. Students are accessed during warm-ups by informal visual checks by the teacher, discussion of warm-ups or assignments or work collected. You may not realize it, but you are constantly being accessed for knowledge!
So, I could do literally no work and still get a good grade?
In theory, it is possible to do no work and earn an "A" in the class. The likelihood of that happening is close to none. Statistics have shown that the amount of work completed correctly is within 10% of the student's test performance. In other words, students correctly completing 50% of the work generally don't score higher than 60/D on tests. Students who correctly complete 80% of the work generally score between 90/A and 70/C on tests. Bottom line, the more work you correctly complete and the greater effort you give to learn the material, the better your testing performance.
I currently have an "F" in the class, can I work my way up to passing?
Yes! Not only could you still pull a passing grade, it is not impossible to even earn your way up to an "A" in the class for the quarter. It has been done. I have seen a student pull a 50/F to a 100/A. Grades are based purely on the student's ability to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter. So if you're currently failing a standard, go back study the material and then perform well on the quarter exam. This is the best way of recovering the grade. Grading is designed this way to give everyone an equal opportunity to demonstrated knowledge of the material no matter the speed in which they learn. It's also designed this way to keep students from giving up mid-quarter because they slipped up.
