Academic Grades

What are students expected to learn?

Each secondary course has academic learning targets that identify the important knowledge and skills students are expected to learn. Some learning targets may include smaller subtargets that describe specific parts of the larger learning goal.

Learning targets help teachers plan instruction and assessment, help students understand what they are expected to learn, and help families understand what grades are communicating.

How do students develop the learning?

Students need instruction and opportunities to practice new knowledge and skills before they are expected to demonstrate them independently.

Practice may include classwork, discussion, drafts, practice problems, demonstrations, checks for understanding, or other course-specific activities. These experiences give students opportunities to try new learning, make adjustments, and prepare to demonstrate what they know and can do.

How do students show what they know and can do?

Academic evidence is student work that allows a teacher to determine what a student knows and can do in relation to one or more learning targets.

Evidence may come from:

• written responses or essays
• quizzes or assessments
• projects
• presentations
• performances
• demonstrations
• laboratory investigations
• discussions
• other course-specific tasks

The type of evidence should match the learning being assessed.

One task can provide evidence for several learning targets

Authentic classroom tasks often involve more than one kind of learning. For example, an English essay might provide evidence of understanding of a text, organization of ideas, use of evidence, and written communication.

When a task provides evidence for multiple learning targets, teachers consider the evidence related to each target separately.

How do students know what to work on next?

Throughout learning, teachers use formative evidence to understand what students currently know and what they may need next.

The primary purpose of formative assessment is feedback. Feedback helps students understand:

• what they are demonstrating now
• what they are still developing
• what they can focus on next

It also helps teachers decide whether students need additional instruction, practice, or a different approach before another opportunity to demonstrate learning.

How does the system account for learning over time?

Learning develops over time. A student's first attempt at demonstrating a skill or concept may not represent what the student understands later.

When appropriate, students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning on the same target. A multiple opportunity is not simply repeating the same assignment. It provides another opportunity to show new or improved understanding after additional instruction, practice, feedback, or study.

Teachers consider the body of evidence available for a learning target. That evidence may show:

• current understanding
• patterns across several pieces of work
• growth over time
• how independently the student can demonstrate the learning

Newer evidence may provide important information about learning that occurred after an earlier assessment.

How is learning communicated to students and families?

Teachers compare student evidence with the criteria described in the course rubric.

On the common 1-8 scale, teachers first determine which rubric band best represents the evidence and then use professional judgment to determine the best-fit score within the band.

8/7  |  6/5  |  4/3  |  2/1

A score does not represent a percentage of points earned. It communicates how the evidence aligns with the learning described in the rubric.

Learn more about the 1-8 scoring scale and banded rubrics

From learning target scores to a course grade

Individual target scores communicate specific information about what a student knows and can do. Teachers use the body of evidence across course learning targets to determine the overall academic grade.

Teachers of the same course in a school use an agreed-upon aggregation method (mean, mode, power law, or no aggregation) to determine an overall score for the learning target. The overall scores are then averaged and applied to a letter grade conversion scale.

Letter Grade Conversion Scale

Course Grade	Calculated Score Range	Description
A	6.0 - 8.0	An "A" letter grade communicates that a student has mastered, at a very high level, the academic learning of the course. A student would need to be proficient (6/5) or highly proficient (8/7) in the majority of the learning targets to earn this letter grade.
B	4.5 - 5.99	A "B" letter grade communicates that a student has the academic learning of a course strongly in place and is well equipped to move forward. A student would need to earn mostly proficient scores (6/5) on the course learning targets to earn this letter grade.
C	3.0 - 4.49	A "C" letter grade communicates that a student has a basic understanding of the academic learning of a course. The student has attained the minimum required knowledge and skills to move on to the next course by earning summary judgments of nearly proficient (4/3) or better on most course learning targets.
D	2.0 - 2.99	A "D" letter grade communicates that a student has not mastered enough of the required learning for a course to be successful moving forward. While a student receiving a "D" may move to the next course, this student will lack prerequisite learning and interventions may be necessary.
N	< 2.0	An "N" letter grade communicates that a student does not have sufficient evidence of learning in a course. High school students will not receive transcript credit for an N.

 

The course grade should only represent the student's academic learning across the learning targets of the course. Academic scores communicate what a student knows and can do in relation to course learning targets. Skills for Success communicate information about the development of transferable skills such as collaboration, engagement, independence, and adaptability. Because they communicate different information, Skills for Success are reported separately from academic learning.

Learn more about Skills for Success

What will secondary school families see?

Throughout the semester with ~3 week updates, families should see in Synergy:

• learning targets connected to assignments
• 1-8 academic scores
• Skills for Success scores
• missing assignments, if applicable
• current course grade information

Families are encouraged to consider the learning target, rubric, teacher feedback, and pattern of evidence over time rather than viewing an individual score in isolation.