Dear Parents and Guardians:
For the past three years, we have been reviewing our grading practices and striving to develop a system that best reflects student learning in all courses. We have concentrated our efforts on making sure grades are a meaningful communication of student learning and achievement. That work has resulted in a fundamental belief statement about grades as well as a few specific changes for the 2021-2022 school year. Because we believe in the importance of parents and guardians being involved in monitoring your student’s progress, we want to make you aware of these shifts, as well as provide you helpful resources and tools to maximize your student’s success.
Glenbard High School District 87 Belief Statement on Grades:
We believe that grades are clear and accurate indicators of student learning that are aligned to learning standards and provide feedback to students and other stakeholders at a given moment in time.
Based upon this belief statement, there are district-wide changes beginning in the 2021-2022 school year. These are:
1. Students will have opportunities to retake/redo summative assessments (excluding final exams), as determined by the teacher.
2. Late work will be accepted without a grade penalty within an extended timeframe, as determined by the teacher.
3. Group grades are eliminated. Students will be assessed for their own learning.
4. No extra credit will be offered.
5. Students in honors, Advanced Placement and dual credit courses will receive an extra GPA point for any passing grade (2, 3, 4, 5).
6. Teachers will communicate to students and families their course expectations, grading practices and academic supports in the syllabus, which will be available to students and families in PowerSchool.
7. Formative assessments are frequent, low stakes, and give the student feedback on how they are progressing towards the learning goals. These are worth 20% or less of the term grade.
8. Summative assessments evaluate student learning, typically at the end of an instructional unit. These could include tests, projects, essays and other assessments and are worth 80% or more of the term grade.
9. Honor roll is determined by GPA only and students who have a failing grade in any class are no longer disqualified.
10. Students who engage in academic dishonesty will receive dean’s consequences and be required to retake/redo the assignment.
11. Students with unexcused absences are able to participate in assignments they missed, in order to demonstrate their learning.
12. Teachers may use, but are not required to use, a new grading code, Not Submitted (NS) to indicate an assignment is missing. The NS code assigns a failing grade of 50% to the assignment and the student should complete the assignment for feedback and a grade.
In order for students and parents to have an accurate understanding of their current performance in each class, teachers will continue to post all grades and assignments in PowerSchool. We will also continue using a 1-5 grading scale and students will receive one grade per course. Additionally, grading practices are common across all teachers teaching the same course. Click here for more information about what’s new with Grading at Glenbard.
Because we value the home-school partnership, we have several tools available to assist you in staying informed of your student’s progress in each of their courses. Make sure your email address is correct in PowerSchool so you can access all of these tools. Login to PowerSchool and go to Account Preferences- Account Email.
These documents are available in English, Spanish, Urdu and Gujarati:
● PowerSchool app: The PowerSchool Mobile app gives instant access to grades, scores, attendance and more on your mobile device. We highly recommend using the app to stay up-to-date on your student’s grades.
● PowerSchool automatic emails for 1s and 2s: Parents/guardians will automatically receive an email notification if their child has a 1 or 2 in any course. These emails begin in early September and continue all year on Thursday evenings.
● Report Cards via email: Parents/guardians will automatically receive semester report cards via email. These are sent two weeks after the semester ends.
● PowerSchool notifications: Receive custom reports to your email on whatever schedule you prefer. You can schedule detailed reports showing all assignment scores for your student, attendance summary reports, or overall grade summary reports. This is in addition to the automatic PowerSchool notifications for 1s and 2s.
If you have questions about a grade in a specific course, please reach out to your student’s teacher. Our goal is to ensure the grading system gives all students the benefit of the doubt, and allows for multiple ways to demonstrate learning.
Sincerely,
