Philosophy

All students are responsible for knowing their current grade at all times.  Any student may receive an individual grade print-out by signing the Grade-Check Request Form on the teachers desk.

All students get work, clearly graded as to points possible and earned, returned in a timely manner.

All students know how to turn a piece of binder paper into a personal assignment log, and know the arithmetic skills necessary to calculate their grades. Using Excel is even easier.

California mandates a Content Standards-based curriculum for public schools; all students have copies of the 9/10 or 11/12 California English-Language Arts Content Standards.

Expect homework virtually every night, especially reading and writing/note-taking.  No late work will be accepted.

Value

During the study of a curricular unit, the average value of an in-class or homework assignment is 30 points.  This allows ample room to award partial credit for incomplete or incorrect responses.

The average value of a final essay, test, and/or major project is 100 points, which again allows for room to award varying degrees of credit.

This combination of daily grades, informal and formal essays, and projects will bring each quarters points possible to approximately 1000, making the conversion of points to a percent/grade very easy.

More points are available to students during the course of a curricular and literature unit than will be available for a final paper and/or project. Students must complete writing, research, note-taking and especially reading assignments to pass the course.

Evaluation and Grading

No predetermined grading curve is used, nor are students competing against each other to set a curve.

Students' cumulative percents are converted to letter grades in a conventional system based on quality work completed: 0-59: F; 60-69: D; 70-79: C; 80-89: B; 90-100: A.

Each quarter is considered a separate grading period; a semester grade is determined by averaging the two quarters in a semester.

Make-up Work

Attendance is essential for academic success. Students are responsible for work missed while absent, and must see the teacher immediately upon returning to get make-up work, and determine a reasonable time in which to submit it. Please anticipate certain absences (e.g., family trips, doctors appointments) and get work in advance. Work missed because of unexcused tardies or absences, cuts, or suspensions will not be accepted.

Some assignments, (papers, projects, major tests), must be made up. Other assignments, (unannounced quizzes, group-work activities) often can not be made up, but will not affect the students grades.