The philosophy of the School Committees concerning academic achievement, as well as children’s social growth and development, is based on the premise that children have diverse capabilities and individual patterns of growth and learning. It is the teachers’ responsibility to assess, monitor, and report this achievement.
Therefore, the Committees feel it important that teachers have as much and as accurate knowledge of each student as possible in order to assess his/her growth, and make instructional plans for him/her. A sharing of information among parent, teacher, and student is essential.
The Committee supports staff efforts to find better ways to measure and report student progress. It will require that:
- Parents be informed regularly, (at least four times a year at the secondary level), of the progress their children are making in school;
- Parents will be alerted and conferred with as soon as possible when a child’s performance or attitude becomes unsatisfactory or shows marked or sudden deterioration;
- Insofar as possible, distinctions will be made between a student’s attitude and his academic performance.
- At comparable levels, the school system will strive for consistency in grading and reporting except as this is inappropriate for certain students;
- When no grades are given but the student is evaluated informally in terms of his/her own progress, the school staff will also provide a realistic appraisal of the student’s standing in relation to his/her peers;
- When grades are given, the school staff will take particular care to explain the meaning of marks and symbols to parents.
Even though it may be difficult for teachers to establish the precise quality of letter grades and the methods used in arriving at a grade, there must be justification for the grades given. There must be a record which documents how the teacher arrived at the evaluation.
Grading is not to be influenced by pressure from those outside the classroom. It is not to be used for disciplinary purposes.
Region Voted to Approve: 8/12/86
Amherst Voted to Approve: 8/19/86
Pelham Voted to Approve: 8/18/86
Effective Date: 8/12/86
