English

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS  

Christina Rae Division Lead Teacher Beginning Composition Honors English 9 English 12 ERWC   Micaela Badaracco English 9 English 12 ERWC   Patrick Crean Honors English 10 AP English Language Speech and Debate   Faith Dionida Beginning Composition English 9 AP English Language    Tyler Fuentes English 10 English Foundations & ELL 2-4 Science Fiction as Literature Yearbook   Kyle Hadley Beginning Composition English 9 English 12 ERWC Drama 1-4   Kelly Hillesland AP English Language Critical Approaches to Cinema Beginning Composition   Kyle Landes English 10 English 12 ERWC   Jessica Mann AP English Literature English 11 Academic Decathalon   Araksya Movsisyan Beginning Composition English 9 English 11    Tony Ruiz Beginning Composition English 10 English 12 ERWC APEX English    Sarah Swenson AP English Language Honors English 10 English 11   Brian VanVelzer Honors English 9 Beginning Composition     

Vista del Lago High School

English Department Grading Policy

The English Langue Arts Department at Vista del Lago High School fully endorses and complies with the school-wide Assessment and Grading Policy. The following items are specific to the English Department, and will be the standard for all English courses at Vista del Lago High School:

Extra Credit: No extra credit will be offered.

Grading Scale: 

• Every assessment in the course is still going to be marked as formative (during learning/for learning) or summative (at the end of learning).
• Each assessment will be scored out of six levels of proficiency.  For assignments where multiple skills are being assessed (for instance, an essay, which might have five or six rubric strands being assessed , multiple columns will be used in the gradebook to report scores.  
• As parents, looking at how the students are doing is going to be best reflected by the letter grade rather than the percentage.  For example, an 84% will read as an A, and a 50% will read as a C-.  Ideally, we will be able to track growth in a particular skill (i.e. “How is the student progressing in the organization category of writing assignments?” or “My student often scores lower in conventions—why is that?”) rather than just “What grade does s/he have?”
• Ultimately, the six-point scale helps students view their abilities in the context of learning proficiencies rather than points. When students understand the criteria upon which they are evaluated and can visualize how to master specific skills, they are more likely to realize their learning goals. The 6-point scale minimizes subjectivity and has the capacity to shift the mindset from "learning to earn a grade" to "learning for the sake of learning."

 

6 Point Score	Letter Grade Earned	Percentage Cutoff	Performance Level	Performance Description
6-5	A+ A A-	100% 90% 83.3%	Exemplary (6) & Advanced (5)	The student demonstrates advanced knowledge and skills and applies both in a masterful fashion that shows insight and depth.
4	B+ B B-	78.3% 71.6% 66.6%	Proficient	The student demonstrates strong knowledge and skills and applies both consistently with only minor mistakes or omissions.
3	C+ C C-	61.6% 55% 50%	Apprentice	The student has a basic understanding of content but requires further assistance, study, and practice in order to demonstrate proficiency.
2	D+ D D-	45% 38.3% 33.3%	Novice	Student demonstrates limited understanding of concepts and skills and is not ready to move on to next level.
1	F	16.6%	Unsatisfactory	Student does not demonstrate skills or understanding of content.
Score you will receive on assignments	Letter Grade shown in PowerSchool	Percentage you will see in PowerSchool. This is not the percentage you earned on an assignment.	The above descriptors represent your performance level on skills and concepts.	The above descriptor defines your grade level performance on skills and concepts.

Group Projects: When participating in a group project, students will be graded individually and we will be evaluated based on their own work within the group. No group grade or average score will be used to determine an individual student’s grade on a group project.

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