Here is a convenient district handout about grade policy.

Grades are broken into the following categories: 

Major: An assignment or assessment that is cumulative in nature that measures learning targets from multiple standards/skills.

Minor: An assignment or assessment that measures an individual learning target, standard, or subset of learning targets/standards/skills within a unit.

Practice: Daily assignments, observations, and/or engagement activities given in class or for homework to build pre-requisite skills, measure progress towards mastery of a learning target or standard, enrich, and/or remediate skills.

 

There must be a minimum of EIGHT grades every nine weeks (total of 16 per semester).

 

Here is their weight and the types of grade you'll have for them.

Major Assignments: 55%

These will consist of things like READING ASSESSMENTS, NOTEBOOK CHECKS, and PROJECTS.

There must be TWO every nine weeks.

 

Minor Assignments: 35%

These will consist of things like CULTURE ASSESSMENTS and VOCAB QUIZZES

There must be THREE every nine weeks.

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Practice Work: 10%

This will consist of things like SPEAKING/LISTENING/WRITING ACTIVITIES.

There must be THREE every nine weeks.
 

Non-Academic Skills

Feedback provided to students and/or parents/ guardians in areas beyond academic mastery. Non-academic skills will be reported in a separate section from academic performance. Feedback will be given to students and parents/guardians every 9 weeks on the progress report/report card for K-12 students.

 

Fulton County Schools will use the following key to report non-academic skills critical to student success.

 

Consistently demonstrates

Often demonstrates

Sometimes demonstrates

Rarely demonstrates

 

For 6th through 12th grade, the categories are 

Self-Direction: The student follows directions and procedures, sustains attention during class, and/or resists distractions.

Collaboration: The student works well with others, asks for help when needs it, and/or shares ideas.

Problem Solving: The student can describe a problem, finds more than one way to solve a problem, and/or is aware that all actions have outcomes.

Work Habits: The student comes prepared for class, manages time and materials, and/or stays on task.

 

Final Exams 

(Note this does not mean there won't be a final assessment in the course, just that the final assessment does not have to cover the work done over the entire semester)

 

The district will not require the administration of a comprehensive final exam or midterm in any course or grade level except when a course includes a state-mandated end-of-course test. Final exams and/or midterms, if administered, can only count as one of the major assessments of the course and cannot have a separate weight. [When a course includes a state-mandated, end-of-course test, the student’s grade in the 2nd semester of that course will reflect the required percentage weight for that assessment based on State Board Rule in a separate category.

 

If a teacher chooses to administer a comprehensive final exam, the following provisions must be met:

The final exam may only count as one of the major assessments in the course (minimum 8 per year)

Exams must be designed to be completed within the normal allotted class period as determined by the school bell schedule

If a final or midterm is given, multipliers may not be applied.

 

Recovery

Recovery: Administered throughout a unit to students who have failed to demonstrate mastery of the standards. Recovery should cover the standards that the student has not mastered.

 

Teachers should provide opportunities for each student K-12 to continue learning material that has not yet been mastered even if the student’s grade is not replaced.

 

Students in K-12 should be afforded the opportunity to recover all major assessments if they score below a 75% on the assessment.

Students are limited to one recovery attempt per major assessment that meets the threshold for recovery.

Recovery of a major assessment should occur before the next major is given.

Students are eligible to earn a replacement grade on a recovery that is no higher than 75%.

If a student’s recovery is below the original score, the original score should stand in the grade book.

Before recovery, the teacher should work with the student to complete missing work and/or ensure delivery of the content through reteaching and relearning.

The original score should be noted in the comment section of the grade book if a student recovers a major assessment.

 

Missing/Late Work

Schools and teachers will make a good faith effort to have structures in place to clear late/missing assignments before grades are impacted.

When a student has missed instruction, the teacher should work with the student to ensure the delivery of content before the student is assessed.

Should there be an extenuating circumstance for a prolonged absence and/or missing assignments/assessments and/or tasks, the teacher and student will create an appropriate plan to deliver content and assess student learning.

 

Student Misses Work Due to Absence (Excused/Unexcused)

Upon return to school, students will have an equal number of days as they were absent to complete any late/missing assignment, assessment, and/or task(s) for full credit.

After the deadline of an equal number of days a student was absent, teachers may begin deducting points from a late/missing assignment, assessment, and/or task(s) (maximum 25% deduction).

If a student fails to turn in a late/missing assignment, assessment, and/or task(s), then a zero may be entered in the grade book.

 

Student Present but Fails to Turn in Assignment, Assessment, and/or Task(s)

Teachers may begin deducting points from a late/missing assignment, assessment, and/or task(s) (maximum 25% deduction).

If a student fails to turn in a late/missing assignment, assessment, and/or task(s), then a zero may be entered in the grade book.

 

All teachers should utilize communication strategies such as email correspondence, telephone conferences, virtual meetings, student-teacher or parent-teacher conferences, informal notes, written feedback on student work.

 

Communication should be given to indicate areas of strength, opportunities for growth, and directives on how to improve mastery of the standards. Communication should also include information about a student’s attendance and progress on non-academic skills.

 

A student’s teacher or the school must notify the parent/guardian and provide the opportunity for an individual conference in person, virtually, or by telephone when a student is:

 

• In danger of not meeting expectations and/or their course average goes below a 70

• In danger of retention and/or will be recommended for retention

• In danger of receiving an incomplete for the quarter and/or the course

• In danger of not graduating or failing a class required for graduation

• Recommended to change a class or placement level

 

For students enrolling mid-semester or during a reporting period with transfer grades:

• The transfer grades should be used and combined with all grades earned for the remaining days of instruction to determine the final course grade for the student.

 

Documentation of Student Grades

All student work considered in the calculation of grades that are not returned to a student, including assignments, assessments, and tasks must be retained for one year per the system document retention schedule per Board Policy JR Student Records.

 

Grade Review

Teachers should make every effort to grade and report student work as fairly and accurately as possible according to the state standards. However, a student and/or parent(s)/guardian(s) who believes that a grade has been issued in error may ask the teacher to review the grade or report. The teacher may modify the grade if the teacher determines a modification is warranted. If the student and/or parent(s)/guardian(s) is not satisfied with the teacher's response, he/she may ask the principal for a review.  Per O.C.G.A. 20-2-989.20 a teacher cannot be required to change a grade provided that system and school policies and guidelines were followed. The principal will determine if policy and guidelines were followed.

 

Courses will not be removed from a student’s transcript unless an error is discovered.  No course substitutions will be made on student transcripts.  A student may retake a course in which he or she was not successful, but grades for both course attempts will appear on the student’s transcript.