Academics

Reported by Letter Grade: O, S, and N

• Conduct
• Fine Motor Development
• Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Reading
• Social/Emotional Development

The Kindergarten Student Evaluation Report will reflect student progress towards mastery of course content standards in all subject areas in that grade. Student work and assessments shall be accumulated and shared with parents during parent conferences. All assessments shall be fair and reasonable as determined by the school principal or designee. The evaluation key to be used on the Kindergarten Student Evaluation Report Card is as follows:

O - Exceeding progress toward mastery of the standard

S - Satisfactory progress toward mastery of the standard

N - Not mastered/needs more time to master the standard

There shall be a minimum of one overall grade in Art, Health & PE, and Music assigned to reflect student involvement and the natural progression of learning each nine week grading period. 

Emphasis will be placed on regular communication with parents through formal and informal conferences. Teachers shall communicate, in writing, their grading practices to parents and students at the beginning of the school year and to new students when they enter class.

Teachers shall utilize a compilation of integrated assessments, including but not limited to, writing in response to text, language, speaking, and listening to formulate the comprehensive language grade for the report card. The teacher is responsible for completing report cards. A district letter is sent home explaining the report card process at the end of the first quarter.

Report cards are sent home at the conclusion of the second quarter. Each teacher is to be responsible for any other markings such as, social/emotional development, fine motor development and attendance to class. There may be supplementary remarks added to the elementary report card as determined by the school. Modifications shall be made to accommodate students’ individual differences in the area of learning styles/levels, and this will be indicated on the report card. Grades will be given based on these accommodations. These modifications must be documented on an Individual Accommodation Plan (IAP) or on an Individual Education Plan (IEP). The letter grades (O, S, and N) for each grading period shall be averaged and recorded on the report card. There will be no overall end-of-the-year final grade recorded on the report card.

Students shall be promoted if they show satisfactory progress at the end of the 4th quarter grading period. Students showing Needs Support/Progressing toward stated goals on all available criteria will be referred to the SBLC to determine promotion or retention, with parent permission. There shall be no Honor Roll.

Reported by Letter Grade: A, B, C, D, or F

• Reading
• Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies

Reported by Letter Grade: O, S, and N

• Conduct
• Social/Emotional Development
• Fine Motor Development
• Work Habits

The First Grade Student Evaluation Report will reflect student progress towards mastery of course content standards in all subject areas in that grade. Student work and assessments shall be accumulated and shared with parents during parent conferences. The evaluation key to be used on the First Grade Student Evaluation Report Card is as follows:

(Only letter grades shall be recorded in the grade book and on the report card.)

O - Outstanding/Meets or exceeds stated goals

S – Satisfactory/Meets stated goals

N -Needs Support/Progressing toward stated goals

There shall be a minimum of six assessments for each student in Reading, Language Arts, and Math and a minimum of five assessments for each student in Science and five in Social Studies during the grading period. Due to unusual circumstances, such as testing, some grading periods may be shortened or lengthened. In this case, the number of assessments shall be a minimum of the number of weeks during that grading period. There shall be a minimum of one overall grade in Art, Health & PE, and Music assigned to reflect student involvement and the natural progression of learning each nine week grading period. 

Assessment is an integral part of the educational process to improve student learning. The primary purpose of assessment, both formative and summative, is to plan for instruction and measure the degree of student mastery of established standards.

Summative assessments are assessments of learning and should take place after the learning has taken place. The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of instruction. Summative grades are typically graded for correctness. Examples of summative grades include quizzes, chapter tests, other tests, essays, labs, research papers, presentations, and projects.

Formative assessments should be assessments for learning and should take place while learning is taking place. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning during instruction. Formative grades typically have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include quizzes (not for correctness, but to gauge student’s understanding), homework, warm-ups, pre-tests, exit tickets/surveys, and cooperative learning activities.

Consequently, all student grades should reflect academic progress toward student mastery of established course content standards. A variety of assessments shall be included, i.e., portfolios, journals, written tests, projects, checklists, writing samples, interviews, observations and anecdotal records. All assessments shall be fair and reasonable as determined by the principal or designee.

Teachers shall communicate, in writing, their grading practices to parents and students at the beginning of the school year and to new students when they enter class. Activities, projects, presentations, reports, etc., will require that specific grading scales or rubrics be developed and communicated to students and parents. Teachers shall utilize a compilation of integrated assessments, including but not limited to, writing in response to text, grammar, and spelling to formulate the comprehensive language grade for the report card. The teacher is responsible for completing report cards. Each teacher is responsible for any other markings such as behavior, work habits and attendance to class. There may be supplementary remarks added to the elementary report card as determined by the school. Modifications shall be made to accommodate students’ individual differences in the area of learning styles/levels, and this will be indicated on the report card. Grades will be given based on these accommodations. These modifications must be documented on an Individual Program Plan (IPP), an Individual Education Plan (IEP), Individual Accommodation Plan (IAP) or an Individual Limited English Proficient Plan (ILEPP).

The letter grades (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0) for each grading period shall be averaged and recorded on the report card. There will be no overall end-of-the-year final grade recorded on the report card. Conduct shall be considered separately and denoted accordingly on the report card. There shall be no Honor Roll.

First Grade Promotion Requirements:

If a student in first grade receives an “F” (Unsatisfactory/Not grasping stated goals) in reading or math as indicated on the fourth grading period, the Student Building Level Committee (SBLC) shall review available data pertaining to the student’s reading or math proficiency to determine promotion or retention. The reading or math proficiency of the student shall be determined by using the informal teacher assessment portfolio which includes a collection of the following: DIBELS assessment results three times per year, writing sample, word recognition test, basal reading series assessments, math sample, spelling test, and any other pertinent information. A variety of assessments shall be included, i.e. portfolios, journals, written tests, projects, checklists, writing samples, interviews, observations and anecdotal records. Students with characteristics of dyslexia, who are served in a multi-sensory structured language program, follow the same criteria for promotion as all other students.

Second Grade Promotion Requirements:

In order to be promoted at the end of 2nd and 3rd grade, a student shall pass the following:
Reading and Math and Any two of these subjects: Language Arts, Science, and/or Social Studies

The Third Grade Student Evaluation Reports will reflect student progress towards mastery of course content standards in all subject areas in that grade. Student work shall be accumulated and shared with parents. The evaluation key to be used on the Third Grade Student Evaluation Report Card is as follows:

Reported by Letter Grade: A, B, C, D, or F

• Reading
• Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Studies

Reported by Letter Grade: O, S, and N

• Conduct
• Work Habits
  Conduct & work habits shall not affect the quarterly or final grade point average.

There shall be a minimum of nine assessments for each student in Reading, Language Arts, and Math and a minimum of six assessments for each student in Science and six in Social Studies during the grading period for students in third grade.

There shall be a minimum of one overall grade in Art, Health & PE, and Music assigned to reflect student involvement and the natural progression of learning each nine week grading period. 

Due to unusual circumstances, such as testing, some grading periods may be shortened. In this case, the number of assessments shall be a minimum of the number of weeks during that grading period. 29 Assessment is an integral part of the educational process to improve student learning. The primary purpose of assessment, both formative and summative, is to plan for instruction and measure the degree of student mastery of established standards. Summative assessments are assessments of learning and should take place after the learning has taken place. The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of instruction. Summative grades are typically graded for correctness. Examples of summative grades include quizzes, chapter tests, other tests, essays, labs, research papers, presentations, and projects. Formative assessments should be assessments for learning and should take place while learning is taking place. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning during instruction. Formative grades typically have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include quizzes (not for correctness, but to gauge student’s understanding), homework, warm-ups, pre-tests, exit tickets/surveys, and cooperative learning activities. Consequently, all student grades should reflect academic progress toward student mastery of established course content standards. A variety of assessments shall be included, i.e., portfolios, journals, written tests, projects, checklists, writing samples, interviews, observations and anecdotal records. All assessments shall be fair and reasonable as determined by the principal or designee. Teachers shall communicate, in writing, their grading practices to parents and students at the beginning of the school year and to new students when they enter class. Activities, projects, presentations, reports, etc., will require that specific grading scales or rubrics be developed and communicated to students and parents. Teachers shall utilize a compilation of integrated assessments, including but not limited to, writing in response to text, grammar, and spelling to formulate the comprehensive language grade for the report card. 

The teacher is responsible for completing report cards. Each teacher is responsible for any other markings such as behavior, work habits and attendance in class. There may be supplementary remarks added to the elementary report card as determined by the school. Modifications shall be made to accommodate students’ individual differences in the area of learning styles/levels, and this will be indicated on the report card. Grades are given based on these accommodations. These modifications must be documented on an Individual Accommodation Plan (IAP), an Individual Education Plan (IEP), and an Individual Limited English Proficient Plan (ILEPP). At the close of the fourth quarter grading period, report cards will be mailed to the home at the close of the teachers’ last day. The letter grades (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0) for each grading period shall be averaged for the end-of-the-year final grade and recorded on the report card.

Third Grade Promotion Requirements:

In order to be promoted at the end of 2nd and 3rd grade, a student shall pass the following:
Reading and Math and Any two of these subjects: Language Arts, Science, and/or Social Studies

Grading Policy (Please refer to the Pupil Progression Plan)

Uniform Grading Scale (per Act 701)

• A = 100-90
• B = 89-80
• C = 79-70
• D = 69-60
• F = 59-0

Children with special concerns in achievement, behavior, health, or communication, which cannot be resolved on the classroom level will be referred by the teacher or parent to the SBLC (School Building Level Committee) in an attempt to resolve the problem.  The SBLC committee at Covington Elementary meets each Wednesday morning to provide assistance for teachers, parents, and students.  The committee is comprised of the School Counselor, the TRT, a Speech Therapist, a Pupil Appraisal member, and an Administrator. Parents are notified in advance and are invited to attend the conference time.  The overall goal of SBLC is the coordination among the committee, agencies, and individuals responsible for learning, in order to assist individual students in obtaining a successful education.