As the school closure has been extended through the month of April the State of Illinois has given revised guidelines on “Remote Learning” and has especially focused on grading of work and engagement by students. The State Board of Education has made it clear that no educational harm should exist due to “Remote Learning” days and grading should focus on the continuation of learning and prioritize the connectedness and care for students and staff. All students should have the opportunity to redo, make up, or try again to complete and show progress. As a district we are tasked to both show some sort of attendance data and to show students are making progress. As such, you and your children will be notified in the coming days that student work will be collected, evaluated and grades and/or completion grades will be entered into the skyward grade book on a regular basis. This will serve two purposes, 1st parents you will know if an assignment was not completed and secondly we will have some form of data to show student attendance and engagement. While this completed work may not reduce a student’s grade regardless of the score, it will be evidence that a student is engaged in learning and will give teachers the opportunity to help students remediate issues they are having with work that is sent home. Teachers and administrators will reach out to students who are having difficulties or are not engaging in the work to help them get on track.
Parents, I want to make one point clear, you might see grades that you are not accustom to being entered into skyward. Please do not be alarmed, as long as your student is making an effort to complete assigned work their current grade as of the end of the 3rd quarter will not be diminished. If work that is completed is of a quality that a student’s grades will improve then at the end of the quarter we will calculate those totals and insure your student reaps the benefits of their hard work. Note, the focus on effort and engagement. In rare cases, we have students who are not engaging at all and in these cases if individual contacts from teachers and administration do not improve the engagement process the district may open summer educational opportunities for those students who refuse to take part in the everyday lessons being offered.
If in fact, we are not able to return to school by the end of the school term our students will have been out of school for 6 months when they return in August. If a student has not been engaged in some learning prior to the summer months they will undoubtedly be negatively impacted and as such our only recourse will be to require summer work for those students so that they will have a better opportunity to succeed in the upcoming school year.
At this time, we believe that students should have acquired enough remote learning materials to suffice until April 14th. On April 14, 2020 we will once again have another Homework Pick-up day. Enough Work will be provided on the 14th to last until the end of the current closure period, April 30, 2020.
As always if you have questions contact your teacher, your administrator or the district administration and we will be happy to help in anyway. We will gather work M-F at PORTA Central from 9-11 and all meal delivery buses will also collect completed work during meal deliver time. If these options are not helpful contact us and we will make arrangements to collect completed work.
Homework Collection and grading information by grade level
K-6 Grading Guidelines
7-12 Grading Guidelines
A lot of information (including some conflicting information) has been released regarding expectations for completion of work and how student work will be graded. We'd like to clarify that for you now.
1. We expect you to complete all work assigned.
2. The Governor is requiring that grading during this time will not hurt students' overall grades. So long as you are engaging in the course and regularly completing work, your overall grade will not fall below what it was prior to the closure. You may see it fluctuate throughout the quarter, but we will address final grades at the end of the semester.
3. If you complete less than 60% of assigned work, summer school or other educational remediation will be the necessary next step required to earn credit for the course. Keep in mind that this is a great opportunity to work at raising your grades beyond where they were at the end of 3rd quarter. Similarly, if you ended 3rd quarter in jeopardy of failing a course, your performance during 4th quarter (including this time of distance learning) will determine your pass/fail status for the course.
4. If you require paper copies for your work, the next pickup day will be Tuesday, April 14 from 9:00-11:00am. At this time, students requiring paper copies of work will receive work for April 14-30.
Parents, I want to make one point clear, you might see grades that you are not accustom to being entered into skyward. Please do not be alarmed, as long as your student is making an effort to complete assigned work their current grade as of the end of the 3rd quarter will not be diminished. If work that is completed is of a quality that a student’s grades will improve then at the end of the quarter we will calculate those totals and insure your student reaps the benefits of their hard work. Note, the focus on effort and engagement. In rare cases, we have students who are not engaging at all and in these cases if individual contacts from teachers and administration do not improve the engagement process the district may open summer educational opportunities for those students who refuse to take part in the everyday lessons being offered.
If in fact, we are not able to return to school by the end of the school term our students will have been out of school for 6 months when they return in August. If a student has not been engaged in some learning prior to the summer months they will undoubtedly be negatively impacted and as such our only recourse will be to require summer work for those students so that they will have a better opportunity to succeed in the upcoming school year.
At this time, we believe that students should have acquired enough remote learning materials to suffice until April 14th. On April 14, 2020 we will once again have another Homework Pick-up day. Enough Work will be provided on the 14th to last until the end of the current closure period, April 30, 2020.
As always if you have questions contact your teacher, your administrator or the district administration and we will be happy to help in anyway. We will gather work M-F at PORTA Central from 9-11 and all meal delivery buses will also collect completed work during meal deliver time. If these options are not helpful contact us and we will make arrangements to collect completed work.
Homework Collection and grading information by grade level
K-6 Grading Guidelines
- It is our top priority that our students are engaged in the activities provided.
- Teachers will monitor students' engagement levels, and contact families if student participation is low.
- If student participation remains low the districts main concern is students will be lacking necessary skills to succeed at next levels.
- In these rare cases, students who lacked engagement during this closure could be identified for summer school, or alternative educational opportunities.
- Remote learning for students will be deemed by their classroom teacher as complete or incomplete.
- Any completed work received will not negatively impact students' grades, but can positively impact their overall grade.
- For students not taking advantage of Remote learning. Their final grade calculations will be an average of quarters 1-3, if we do not return to school this year.
- Students at risk of retention will be contacted by school representatives.
7-12 Grading Guidelines
A lot of information (including some conflicting information) has been released regarding expectations for completion of work and how student work will be graded. We'd like to clarify that for you now.
1. We expect you to complete all work assigned.
2. The Governor is requiring that grading during this time will not hurt students' overall grades. So long as you are engaging in the course and regularly completing work, your overall grade will not fall below what it was prior to the closure. You may see it fluctuate throughout the quarter, but we will address final grades at the end of the semester.
3. If you complete less than 60% of assigned work, summer school or other educational remediation will be the necessary next step required to earn credit for the course. Keep in mind that this is a great opportunity to work at raising your grades beyond where they were at the end of 3rd quarter. Similarly, if you ended 3rd quarter in jeopardy of failing a course, your performance during 4th quarter (including this time of distance learning) will determine your pass/fail status for the course.
4. If you require paper copies for your work, the next pickup day will be Tuesday, April 14 from 9:00-11:00am. At this time, students requiring paper copies of work will receive work for April 14-30.