Hello students and parents,

I wanted to give you some information to help you understand the grading system that I use in
my classroom. You may be unfamiliar with this type of grading scale, so this letter will explain
the different aspects of it.

I use a four-point grading scale as shown in the table below:

Grade Description Explanation

Students completely understand the concept, and they are ready to
4 Mastery
move on.
Students understand most of the concept, but there is room for
3 Proficient
improvement.
Partially Students understand a little of the concept but still need a lot of
2
Proficient practice.
Students do not understand the concept at all and will need much
1 Unsatisfactory
additional help.

My goal is to get every student to the level of mastery, but I expect my students to at least be
proficient. I will never give just a grade on an assignment or assessment; there will always be
some type of feedback as well so that it is clear what the student did and did not understand.

In my classroom, I will use what is called standards-based grading which means that I look to see
which standards have been mastered and which still need practice. This means that quizzes, tests,
and projects may have multiple scores based on the different standards assessed on them. For
example, I may give a quiz that assesses writing, reading comprehension, and grammar. The quiz
would then be broken down based on those different standards. See the example below:

Standard Content Grade

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2.C
Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and Writing 4
concepts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, Reading 2
including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.1.A
3
Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (subjective, objective, Grammar
possessive).
Feedback: The student clearly understands how to use transitions from one idea to the next.
Although the student understands the different meanings of words sometimes, there is still
room for improvement in this area. We will continue to work on this in class. The student
struggles most with determining figurative meanings of words. The student uses the proper
case of pronouns usually, but occasionally the student still uses the improper case.
Since I want students grades to accurately reflect what information they have learned, I give
academic grades and behavior grades. Both grades will appear on monthly progress reports and
quarter report cards. Although homework is not graded academically, I still give a behavior
grade based on whether it was completed or not. The purpose of homework is to practice the
concepts learned in class. I do not want to penalize students for not understanding a concept right
away. Even though homework is not graded, I will still keep track of what students are and are
not understanding based on the homework. The following examples are samples of what might
appear on progress reports and report cards.

Academic Skills Behavior Skills

Skill Mastery/Grade Skill Mastery/Grade
Writing 4 Homework 4
Reading 2 Attendance/Punctuality 4
Speaking 3 Neatness 3
Listening 3 Cooperation 2
Grammar 3
Spelling 4

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. I want you to feel
comfortable and confident in understanding what the grades are communicating to you.

Sincerely,

Miss Myers