Secondary Grading Practices

Grades must clearly communicate student success in learning the standards.

Guidelines

• Assignments and assessments are aligned to learning standards.
• Classroom instruction has clear standards, aligned learning intentions, and success criteria that are communicated with students and used for feedback, reflection, and monitoring learning progress.
• Extra credit, if used, should be limited in scope and must be related to course content.

Students should have multiple opportunities to show what they know and can do. 

Guidelines

• Various means can be used to assess student mastery. These may include formative and summative assessments, class activities, essays, labs, portfolios, and/or projects.
• There should be department or building-level agreements determining how to weight two or three categories using these guidelines:
  • 60-80% — Summative Category
  • 20-40% — Formative Category
  • 0-10% — Professionalism (optional)
• Teachers must have a policy for late work that allows students to submit work beyond the initial due date.

Students need time to practice and learn from mistakes. Therefore, teachers are expected to incorporate a variety of assessment methods within their course and provide opportunities for reassessment. 

Guidelines

• Teachers should provide a variety of formative opportunities for students to learn course content and practice the skills required for the course. These include readings, assignments, activities, classroom instruction, homework, group learning, entry and exit tasks, discussions, self-assessment, peer assessment, and other activities.
• Teachers should provide opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of standards-aligned learning in summative ways after formative instruction and feedback. These include performances, projects, written assessments, and tests, among others.
• Teachers should use assessment and/or progress monitoring results to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction and to plan for future instruction.

We support learning through regular communication with families about student progress.

Guidelines

• Teachers are expected to keep current, supporting data for grades. Records shall be available for parent and student monitoring through the district-approved electronic grading system.
• Teachers should formally report progress through report cards, progress reports, and conferences.
• The district’s online grade book should be updated at least every two weeks and remain accessible to parents and students at all times.

• Replacing the current 100-point scale with a 4-point scale. This simplifies grades and makes assessing student performance more straightforward, reducing subjectivity. Letter grades will not go away: the 4-point scale will translate to a letter grade.
• Giving students multiple avenues to show what they know and can do, including various assessment methods (e.g., portfolios, presentations, essays, classroom activities, and projects).
• Creating a consistent policy to allow for and accept late work.
• Setting a limit on extra credit options, which disproportionately helps students with additional resources and support (not equitable).

• Research shows that traditional grading practices (the 100-point scale) can be inaccurate, biased, and demotivating for some students.
• Equitable grading practices shift focus from earning points to learning & mastering content, strengthening the relationship between teachers and students.
• The 4-point scale unifies our entire K-12 grading system (our elementary schools currently use a variation of the 4-point scale in grades K-5).

• It is easier to describe five gradients (0-4) than to describe 100 gradients.
• Rubrics (scoring tools that show the performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work) accompany assignments, projects, and assessments.
• Rubrics provide students with clarity on learning expectations. In other words, there’s more clarity for students around what they need to be able to know and do.
• Standards-referenced grading minimizes implicit bias (grades are based on demonstrating learning rather than “good student” behavior).
• The 4-point scale dedicates equal amounts of the scale to each score: 4, 3, 2, 1, whereas the 0-100 point scale dedicates 59 percent to failure.

No. Students who meet the learning target and demonstrate one or more descriptors on the grading scale anchor rubric can earn an A. For example, if a student meets the learning target and demonstrates they can make connections to other learning or represent the learning in a new way, they earn a 4.

Four-Point Grading Scale Anchor Rubric

4 - Advanced

The student has met the learning target and demonstrates one or more of the following:

• Demonstrates complex and nuanced understanding of the skills, concepts, and ideas independently
• Applies and transfers learning with depth and complexity
• Able to analyze, peer review, and effectively critique the work of others and/or self-assess, reflect, and critique their own work
• Makes connections to other learning or represents the learning in a new way
• Models true mastery of the expected learning/content
• Other descriptors: exemplary • exceptional • high-quality • in-depth • complex • outstanding • innovative • very well-prepared for next level

3 - Proficient

The student has met the learning target:

• Demonstrates understanding of the skills, concepts, and ideas independently or with minimal supports
• Demonstrates grade-level knowledge and skills to be achieved independently or with minimal supports
• Able to analyze and peer-review the work of others
• Other descriptors: competent • capable • on grade-level • well-prepared for next level

2 - Developing

The student is approaching achievement of the learning target:

• More time is needed for consistent, independent demonstration of grade-level knowledge and skills to be achieved
• Able to demonstrate understanding of the skills, concepts, and ideas with support from teacher and/or peers
• Able to understand portions of the learning and/or almost able to demonstrate the more basic concepts independently
• Other descriptors: needs more time • basic • inconsistent • needs more direct support to be successful at the next level

1 - Beginning

The student has not yet met the learning target:

Provides evidence of attempting to understand skills, concepts, and ideas
Attempts to demonstrate learning but requires significant support from teacher and/or peers and is still well below proficiency
Evidence is insufficient to show increase of skill
Other descriptors: not yet • insufficient evidence • misconceptions • omissions • struggling • just getting started • not yet prepared for the next level

0 - No Evidence

The student has not provided evidence of progress toward meeting the learning target:

• No evidence
• Cannot demonstrate learning
• Student has not engaged in learning

No. The purpose of the 4-point scale is to simplify grading and remove subjectivity and implicit bias in grading. Once the point is awarded, it is converted to a letter grade:

3.65–4:00	A
3.50–3.64	A-
3.25–3.49	B+
3.00–3.24	B
2.70–2.99	B-
2.30–2.69	C+
2.00–2.29	C
1.70–1.99	C-
1.50–1.69	D+
1.30–1.49	D
0.00–1.29	F

No, colleges will still receive NTPS student transcripts with letter grades. NTPS leaders have met with several area colleges and universities about this initiative, and it is widely understood that this is an approach that removes bias and supports rigorous learning standards.

No. As shown on the NTPS the grading scale anchor rubric, students will earn a 0 or 1 if they have not provided evidence of progress toward meeting the learning target, or if the evidence is insufficient to show an increase in skill

• All content areas (e.g., science, math, English language arts, Career and Technical Education, physical education, social studies) will develop content-specific rubrics to guide their grading.
• The district supports teacher clarity through ongoing professional development.
• The Grading Practices Committee includes teacher representation to ensure that the implementation reflects teacher input.

Yes, this is aligned with Strategic Plan Goal 5: Preparedness for Post-Secondary Success, Outcome a: Increased percentage of students passing classes in grades 6-9, culminating in an increased percentage of 10th grade students on track to graduate. Watch the October 2021 Community Conversation and read the resulting Board Determination outlining the desire to move to a 4-point grading scale.

North Thurston Public School’s work around grading practices links to two goals from the district’s strategic plan. In 2018, the district established a task force of 25 people to review grading practices and make recommendations to the Superintendent and School Board.

In 2021, the School Board held a Community Conversation to address this topic. As a result, the Board of Directors affirmed four grading principles. The task force was charged with developing district-wide guidelines and teacher practices aligned with the four principles to ensure consistent grading and progress reporting to families. 

In 2022, the task force reached a consensus on promoting three big ideas: consistency, communication, and empowered learners.