Point System Preferred over School Loop Weighting
October 26, 2018
School administration has reviewed district grading guidelines with staff earlier in the year. These policies are intended to ensure consistency both between courses at the same site as well as from site to site within the district.
The guidelines, which can be found on the district’s website, require teachers to assign “weights” to certain types of assignments in their School Loop grade books
However, not all teachers use the weighting feature of the School Loop grade book.
“For me, all my stuff is ‘weighted,’ but it’s weighted by the amount of points it’s given,” said English teacher Dan Doyle, who added that he’s never encountered issues with the district on any grading policies. “Let’s say that tests are supposed to be 35% of your grade. If you add up the points of my tests, that adds up to what would be 35% of your grade, so that’s the same thing.”
Social studies teacher Molly Kerr uses a similar point-by-point system. “I think it’s easier for students to track their grade that way,” she said. “Back in the day, I used to use categories but I found that students find it much easier just to track the points.”
Doyle agreed that the system allows students to understand their grade “better if I tell them that ‘This research paper is 400 points,’ and give them a better sense of what it is in relation to something else,” he said.
Some students find that this method of grading is easier to understand and interpret. “I prefer the point-by-point system rather than weighted grades. It’s so much easier to evaluate the amount of points you’re receiving for each assignment,” said senior Lauren Kline. “It also clarifies how much 1 assignment is weighted in comparison to another, which is helpful when you’re figuring out how much time you need to put into something.”
According to assistant principal Jon Drury, the administration is satisfied with teacher compliance with the district grading guidelines.
Doyle said, “I have plenty of issues with other things, but [grading policies] would not be one of them.”
