Grading Guidance

The Purpose Behind Grading

Per the Professional Grading Standards and Guidelines for CPS Teachers (2017), “The primary function of grading is to provide feedback related to student academic achievement expressed through the Illinois Learning Standards and/or learning objectives for each course of study undertaken. Grades are captured through formative and summative assessments and are intended to represent a fair and honest indication of a student’s present level of academic mastery at a given point in time.

Grading serves the following purposes:

1. Evaluate the quality and accuracy of student work and overall performance at various stages of a particular course;
2. Creates opportunities for reflective dialogue and communication among educators, parents, students, and others.
3. Determine student instructional placement and promotion (i.e. accelerated programs, interventions, instructional groupings, etc.);
4. Marks transitions, bring closure and focus effort for both students and teachers (i.e. re-teaching, differentiating, end of quarter, end of semester, etc). 

In cases where a school team opts to create or refine school-wide grading policies and practices, school teams must engage in a collaborative process. These policies and practices will conform to the provisions of these Guidelines."

Student Failure: Meaning, Support, and Limits

With a school’s best efforts in partnership with parents and students, a student should not fail. When a student fails, it means that:

• Communication efforts were made with the intention of building a way for the student to return
• Opportunities were created to allow a student to be successful
• Impacted stakeholders were considered and engaged as potential bridge builders for the student and their family
• The process is free of bias with the primary goal of student success in mind.
• The efforts were fully documented in Aspen
• The efforts were made over an extended period of time (weeks and months)

The CPS High School Promotion Policy establishes that schools should look at exemptions when it comes to grading. Acknowledged factors as to why grading may need special consideration include:

• Health issues
• Issues related to the the student’s family
• Prior academic history and effort, and/or
• Extenuating circumstances

These factors are all couched in matters that may cause a student to either be absent from school or not perform well in school. The district acknowledges that a student’s academic performance may be impacted by the factors listed above, and asks schools to review the factors when considering whether a student should receive passing or failing grades, or specific letter grades. Schools should be cognizant of issues a student is facing and attach the proper support, if able, in order for students to get the help needed.

The Challenge with Make-Up Work

Oftentimes, make-up work becomes a bargaining chip. Student grades should not hinge on work that is solely coming from work produced without the guidance of a teacher. This goes back to grades being about criteria. While teachers post work online, the issue of mastery does come into play here. A school can set a limit to the turnaround time on when make-up work can be submitted, but this must be articulated in any policy established at the start of a year.

Schools should note that parents/guardians often are the agents by whom students depend on to go to school. If a parent/guardian keeps a child home, and does not submit a reason for absence, it is the child that is punished. If the goal is mastery of instructional standards, make-up work is not the vehicle by which this will happen. Make-up work policies should be straightforward, and not the make or break issue for student grades.

To that end, schools may also need to consider when make-up work is not feasible.