From: Gail 
To: Teacher2Teacher Public Discussion
Date: 2000120515:32:08
Subject: Re: Grading policy

	I do something similar to what Claudia mentioned, except that I make
sure that a certain percentage of the points my students earn comes
 from different areas.

For example, in my city, homework can only count as 10% of the total
grade, so I make sure that the homework assignment points are 10% of
the total.  I only count tests as 30% of the total, and quizzes as
20%, that leaves 40 % for classwork.  Of course, my students are fifth
graders, so I may be grading them a bit differently than I would
middle schoolers, or high schoolers.

To throw another monkey wrench into it..  I let my students take their
tests home and redo them for a better grade (I give half credit for
corrections).  I also never give a grade worth less than half the
number of total points for that assignment/assessment.  So, if the
test is worth 100 points, I don't assign a grade lower than 50.   I do
this because statistically, if I assign grades lower than that, there
is little way a student can recover from a failing grade   and the
whole idea is to encourage students to do their best, and to learn,
not to catch them making mistakes.

Even with these measures in place, I do not see inflated grades in my
classroom.  What I do have is a group of parents who agree that I have
"bent over backwards" to try to give their children ever possible
opportunity to succeed, and a group of students who recognize (most of
them, anyway) that they are ultimately responsible for the grades they
take home.

Be prepared to change what you decide to do this time, when you come
up with a strategy that fits your beliefs about how your students are
doing.  Also, whatever you decide, make it fair to everyone, and have
data to back up your decisions. There will be at least one
parent/student who will want verification of how you came up with this
grade...
 -Gail, for the T2T service

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