Midterms and Standards-Based Assessment

You may have noticed that your son / daughter didn't receive a traditional letter grade for their Social Studies and/or Literature courses this quarter. In Social Studies, students received a number score and an abbreviation ( 03.00, PR). Here's what those numbers and letters mean:

• 04.00     AD     = Advanced at the classroom standards
• 03.00     PR     = Proficient at the classroom standards
• 02.00     PA     = Partial Proficient at the classroom standards
• 01.00     BG     = Beginning to understand the classroom standards
• 0.00       RA     = Refused to complete classroom assignments.

Many students have asked how to convert those numbers and letters to grades. I've heard a lot of students ask, "Mr. Hammond - what letter grade is a 3.00?" or, "If I'm proficient am I earning an A?"

The simple answer to those questions is no - standards don't translate into letter grades. Instead, they simply tell if students understand the standards that I'm expected to teach in the 6th grade.

If you have any questions, or you'd like a handout to show you how to access a standards report instead of a traditional progress report in PowerSchool, let me know.

You can leave a comment on this blog, call me at school, or send me an email at rhammond@jcsd1.us . I look forward to hearing from you!