Letter on Assessment and Quarter Grades

The First Quarter Progress Reports or Assessments of Student Learning were sent home this week. These reports detail student achievement in individual courses and should be reviewed carefully by both students and parents/guardians. Our progress reports, in addition to raw and percent scores of cumulative performance, include faculty narratives and advisor comments which explain areas of strength and areas needing improvement.

 

A few general comments to provide a context for these reports:

 

1) Please note that these grades arc NOT permanent - only end of semester grades become part of the official academic record. Hence students have this 2^nd quarter to improve their grades.

 

2) We strongly encourage that parent/guardians and students go over these in details and that they be a basis for the dialogue with faculty during Parent Teacher Conference, which as you know, will be held next week.

 

3) In general, at CSS, getting over 75% in the core courses is a good performance. The average grade for core courses in 6^th grade this quarter is between 72% and 83%. The average grade for core courses in 7^th grade this quarter is 65% to 75%. The highest GPA for the school was 102%. The lowest was in the low 40's.

 

4) It is pretty difficult to get an A (90%) or higher at CSS. This quarter, about 15% of the students have an overall GPA of 88% or higher, and in any given course less than 1/3 of the students get an A. We see a marked improvement in this measure by the end of this first semester.

 

5) Students who are failing (68% or less) in 2 or more courses, or who have an overall GPA in core courses (first page of report) of less than 68% arc automatically placed on Academic Probation. Next week, those students placed on academic probation will receive a letter detailing how we will support their academic success, the expectations for improvement we have for them, and how parents can assist in this. Most of these students have been placed on afterschool tutoring or mentoring. In the past we have found that low performance at CSS is directly related to homework completion.

 

6) The 6^th grade class performed on average GPA of about 8 points higher than the 7^th graders a pretty amazing achievement - which deserves public recognition!

 

Overall I am satisfied that this quarter's grades correctly represent the range of learning, dedication and effort that the students achieved. These grades will for some represent an important wake-up call, for others a clear recognition that excellence is achieved by dedication and effort.

 

Although the first point of contact about grades should be the teacher or advisor, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to call me directly.