Grading
The "WHY" Behind the Grading Policy
A grading system must incorporate and align to the values of our learning model.
Our learning model values:
Grading Basics
Every student will earn a final grade at the end of the year.
These grades will fall in the following range:
ELA, Science, Social Studies
Cognitive Skills (Projects) make up 70%
Content (Focus Areas) makes up 30%
Additional Considerations
Math Classes
The grading for Math courses includes the grading of Concept Units.
All grades within Summit Learning reflect mastery developed over the entire school year. Whereas most traditional grading systems have end points - usually at the end of semesters or quarters - no grades are finalized in Summit Learning until the end of the academic year. This allows for students to demonstrate growth over a longer period of time, without being held accountable for falling short of their goals at arbitrary points during the school year.
Another important take-away is that there are no D’s in Summit Learning. This reflects our belief that all students should have the opportunity persist until they have demonstrated true mastery with a grade of A, B, or C.
Finally, you should note that we will not use the letter grade “F”. Instead, if a student hasn’t demonstrated C level mastery, that student’s grade is “INCOMPLETE”. This emphasizes that the student is expected to persist with a growth mindset, rather than accepting failure as a final outcome.
A grading system must incorporate and align to the values of our learning model.
Our learning model values:
- Cognitive skills (deep, thinking skills) are the best measure of student growth and achievement
- Content understanding is either learned or not learned, and it needs to be mastered
- Growth is the outcome we desire and therefore we should value growth and the student’s best work
Grading Basics
Every student will earn a final grade at the end of the year.
These grades will fall in the following range:
- 90% and up is an A
- 80% and up is a B
- 70% and up is a C
- Below 70% is an incomplete
- There are no “Ds” in Summit Learning
- he/she fails to turn in 100% of projects
- he/she fails to pass of all his/her power focus areas
- he/she has an average cognitive skill below grade level
ELA, Science, Social Studies
Cognitive Skills (Projects) make up 70%
- grading based on cognitive skill scores
- only the highest grade for each cognitive skill is counted in the final grade
- cognitive skills assessed more frequently count for more in the final cognitive skill grade
Content (Focus Areas) makes up 30%
- 21% is from Power Focus Areas
- 9% is from Additional Focus Areas
Additional Considerations
- every project must be completed to pass a class
- every Power Focus area must be passed to complete a course
- passing 0 additional focus areas will yield a grade NO higher than 91%
Math Classes
The grading for Math courses includes the grading of Concept Units.
- 40% of a math course grade is based on a student’s score in concept units
- A concept unit is a series of math tasks through which students learn important math concepts
- 30% of a math course grade is based on a student’s cognitive skill in projects
- 30% of a math course grade is based on passing focus areas
All grades within Summit Learning reflect mastery developed over the entire school year. Whereas most traditional grading systems have end points - usually at the end of semesters or quarters - no grades are finalized in Summit Learning until the end of the academic year. This allows for students to demonstrate growth over a longer period of time, without being held accountable for falling short of their goals at arbitrary points during the school year.
Another important take-away is that there are no D’s in Summit Learning. This reflects our belief that all students should have the opportunity persist until they have demonstrated true mastery with a grade of A, B, or C.
Finally, you should note that we will not use the letter grade “F”. Instead, if a student hasn’t demonstrated C level mastery, that student’s grade is “INCOMPLETE”. This emphasizes that the student is expected to persist with a growth mindset, rather than accepting failure as a final outcome.
© Summit Learning