I hope the winter break provided you time with your children and some much needed rest. I know that we are excited to start back to school and continue the work that we started in 2011. In 2012, we are looking forward to continuing our push towards excellence. It is our hope that your children are challenged, enlightened, and that our work prepares them to take advantage of the endless opportunities that life provides. Looking forward to a productive, healthy, and opportunity filled 2012!    

Kevin C. Duckworth, Ed.D.

     During the 2011 school year SWSD adopted the following Best Practices for grading. These practices were developed with a committee of teachers, administrators, and parents. These practices were adopted based on research and evidence based best practices from expert practitioners and researchers. Our adoption of these practices are designed to help us align with our Grading Belief Statement.  We believe, "Grading will reflect what students know, understand, and are able to do.Teachers will not use practices that directly distort the measure of student performance.Grades will be based on a variety of high-quality summative, common assessments. Students should be involved in the assessment and grading process."   

      As the Principal of EHMIS, I look forward to a partnership with you in our journey to improve the grading and assessment practices of our school. I look forward to your feedback regarding the changes that we have been making to our grading process, report cards, and assessment practices. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the changes that we are making to improve your child's learning experience.

1. Reporting Academic Achievement
• Report behavior, effort, and participation separate from academic achievement.
• No extra credit will be given.
• Homework and practice will be reported separately from academic achievement.
• Grades will be based on summative assessments and tasks.
2. Using Assessments
• Use formative feedback to move learners forward in their understanding.
• Use common formative and summative assessments across all grade levels and subject areas.
• Use evidence from summative assessments to reflect what students know, understand, and are able to
do and the mastery of essential questions to determine course grades.
• Provide multiple opportunities for students to show understanding, after re-teaching and/or
remediation.
• Base report card grades on the most current summative assessments in reading and math.
• When reassessing, record the most current summative assessment score as the grade.
3. Dealing with Late Assignments
• Score late work for achievement, not punctuality (scored separately).
• Incomplete work should be recorded as incomplete until it is made up.
o Use available resources to get students to complete missing/late work.
o Teachers should communicate with parents when students are not completing work.
o Incomplete work will be made up within a two week period.
o If after two weeks, the work is not made up, the grade will be recorded based on existing
evidence of the student meeting the learning goal. Lack of evidence may result in a zero.
o In extreme cases, teachers should refer students through the student concerns process.
4. The Purpose and Grading of Homework
• Use homework as practice, previewing, or extension of material and/or skills.
• Use homework to provide feedback.
• Report homework separately from academic achievement.
• The amount and type of homework should be based on the age and needs of the students.
5. Students should be involved in the assessment and grading process.