6:280 Grading and Promotion
The Superintendent or designed shall establish a system of grading and reporting academic achievement to students and their parents/guardians.
Grading
The purpose of grading is to communicate the achievement status of students to parents, students, and other educational organizations. Grading provides feedback to students in their self-evaluation of their progress toward the learning standards.
The Superintendent of designee shall provide guidance and procedures to ensure that grading practices:
- Reflect student skill/concept mastery and not behaviors or compliance issues
- Align to learning standards or essential learnings
- Grade assignment is based on prioritized summative assessments and performance evidence of the student’s achievement of the skill/concepts
- Use of summative assessment for feedback to the student to assist the student learning the skills/concepts that were not learned
- Recognize that students learn at different rates and may require additional support or multiple opportunities and means to demonstrate their learning
This policy shall not be applied in any way inconsistent with a student’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan. The IEP team or Section 504 team may determine whether the unique needs of the student with a disability warrant an accommodation in the manner in which this policy is applied to him/her.
Promotion/Retention
The Superintendent or designee shall develop a system to determine when promotion/retention and graduation requirements are met. The decision to promote/retain a student to the next grade level shall be based on the completion of the curriculum, attendance, performance based on state and local testing, or though meeting educational benchmarks. A student shall not be promoted/retained based upon age or any other social reason not related to academic performance. The administration shall determine remedial assistance for a student who is retained.
Grade Changes
Every teacher shall maintain an evaluation record for each student in the teacher’s classroom. The final grade assigned by the teacher cannot be changed by an administrator without notifying the teacher. Reasons for changing a student’s final grade include:
- a miscalculation of test scores;
- a technical error in assigning a particular grade or score;
- the teacher agrees to allow the student to do extra work that may impact the grade;
- an inappropriate grading system used to determine the grade; or
- an inappropriate grade based on an appropriate grading system.
Should a grade change be made, the administrator making the change must authorize the grade change in writing.
Cross Reference:
7:050 School Admissions and Student Transfers To and From Non-District Schools
Legal Reference(s):
105 ILCS 5/2-3.64, 5/10-20.9a, 5/10-21.8, and 5/27-27.
Date Adopted: 02/28/2006
Date Amended: 02/26/2013
