Cumulative Grading FAQ's

The use of technology for grade reporting and calculating allows almost instantaneous feedback.

Cumulative grading also provides a more accurate performance calculation and growth measure of student achievement. For instance, if in one marking period a student had four tests at 100 points each and in another marking period the student had two tests at 100 points each, those marking periods were averaged together at equal weight, despite one having twice as many points as the other. This skews student grades and may mask student achievement gaps or overrepresent struggles in specific content areas within a course.

Students will be scored on all assessments and each will contribute to an ongoing, cumulative grade-in-progress throughout the school year.  Students in upper school core academic courses (math, science, English, history and language) will complete an end-of-course assessment that requires students to demonstrate mastery of the curriculum content and performance standards (counting 20% of the final grade).

●   Students and parents know exactly where they stand. The old marking period grade was reset every 45 days and had no relationship to the other grades earned at other points in the year, therefore causing disproportional weights and confined summative assessment times within each quarter.

● Student grades accrue throughout the duration of each course.  Grades at the quarter and semester (in yearlong courses) are shared, but only serve as progress checks for students; these grades do not appear on future report cards or transcripts- only the final, cumulative grade (including end-of-course assessments for upper school courses) are posted at the completion of each course.  Research and experience show that cumulative grades are better aligned with inquiry-based instruction because it does not confine projects to certain timeframes, allows greater reflection and refinement of the artifacts students produce, and shares a more accurate representation of where students stand in each course at all points during the year.

● It creates less student panic (or over-celebration) about the impact of a single grade. The overall grade-in-progress will be less impacted by a single assessment than the smaller window of the quarter.

Students will notice that their gradebooks will be set up in categories, where each learning outcome is weighted according to a predetermined formula. In most classes, students will be assessed in five categories: Knowledge & Thinking, Written Communication, Oral Communication, Collaboration & Agency.  For example, a department may establish a parameter of 60% K+T, 10% Agency, 15% Written Communication, 10% Oral Communication, and 5% Collaboration.  Each of the learning outcomes will be assessed in formative and summative assignments throughout the year using indicators found in the New Tech K-12 rubrics. Each assignment will be clearly linked to one or more outcomes. Points earned will generate a mastery percentage in each outcome which will be calculated into the overall course average using the weightings outlined in each course syllabus. Assignment comments will also be available in ECHO. Mentors will note when assignments are eligible for resubmission and specify the deadline for resubmission.

Mentors will be scoring assessments and entering them into ECHO as they are turned in (see timeline discussion below).  However, there will continue to be four “TERMS” at which times the grade-in- progress will be “posted” in MyHHCA.  This will allow the continued practices such as reporting grades to colleges and determining sports eligibility.  Posting will capture the grade in progress at that time, based on all assessments up to that point in the course.  The last day of each term in the 2022-23 school year are:

• Quarter 1: October 7
• Quarter 2: December 16
• Quarter 3: March 16
• Quarter 4: May 26

Students will still be expected to complete assignments on time. Mentors may also set a final deadline for any late work still accepted for credit based on the term dates listed above.  Mentors have also been told that all standard tests, projects, and papers will be graded and entered into ECHO no longer than 5 school days after the due date. Lengthier/large-scale assessments may require an additional week. Mentors have also been told that they should share the estimated point values of future assignments so students can plan accordingly. A student who is struggling should know what opportunities he/she may have to improve the grade. Students will need to be mindful and plan accordingly, but their grade in progress will always tell them exactly where they stand.