High School Grading Practice Guidelines

Staff Survey


  1. Please select the fix(es) that you would like to see incorporated into the building/district grading practice guidelines.
    Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc) in grades; include only achievement.
    Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late; provide support for the learner.
    Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.
    Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.
    Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.
    Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.
    Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals.
    Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.
    Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards.
    Don’t rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.
    Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.
    Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.
    Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.
    Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement.
    Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can - and should - play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.


  1. Please include any additional input regarding grading practice guidelines.





Mrs. Burnett
Instructional Coach
Richmond HS
Richmond, MO