Grade Conversions

Let's discuss how to convert all of those Ns, Ps, and Hs into a number grade.  Ideally, you don't want to do this, but I don't think students or parents are ready to not have number grades.

First let's talk about proficiency:
A student who is proficient is a student who learns what you teach and nothing more.  When our department had this discussion we decided that a student who is proficient in everything should receive a grade no higher than a C.  Remember, this student is not High Performance in anything.
We then discussed what a failing student would look like.  We agreed that in order to move to the next course, a student must be Proficient in 70% of all the outcomes.
Here's what we have so far in my district:
70% Proficient (no High Performance) = 75% grade (Lowest C possible)
100% Proficient (no High Performance) = 84% grade (Highest C possible)

Keep this in mind:  I don't care how many outcomes a student is High Performance in, if he is not Proficient in at least 70% of the outcomes, then he does not pass the course.


Now let's talk High Performance:
First thing I want to mention is that it is impossible for a student to be High Performance without first being Proficient.  So when I say that a student is High Performance, I mean he is Proficient AND High Performance.
I'm sure we can all agree that a student who is High Performance in all outcomes has a number grade of 100%.  What happens in-between is really up to you and your school.  But I will share with you what our department came up with.


Our conversion system is an if-then statement.

Do this:  Determine the percentage of outcomes that the student is Proficient, and the percentage of outcome he is High Performance.

IF he is less than 70% Proficient, THEN that's his grade.
For example, if a student is 65% Proficient and 40% High Performance, then his grade is 65%.  Back to the "Keep this in mind:" statement above.  I don't even look at the student's High Performance percentage if he is less than 70% Proficient.

If he is 70% or greater Proficient, then I have work to do:
First, add the two percentages together.
Next, use the following table to convert the grade.
For example, If a student is 80% Proficient and 30% High Performance, the total is 110.
This converts to a grade of 86% in my district.




Let's take a look at one of my students:



Out of the 39 outcomes, this student is Proficient in 37 of them.  He is 95% Proficient.

Out of the 39 outcomes, he is High Performance in 15 of them.  He is 38% High Performance.

He has a total of 133 (95+38).  
His grade converts to 90% using the above table.




A little quiz for you:
See if you can convert the following students' grades.
I'll post the answers later and reteach if necessary :)
Post your answers in the comments if you like.

Student 1:



Student 2:



Student 3:



Student 4:


Comments

  1. Love this idea . . . going to incorporate this into my classroom. Do you have an example of topic and what is proficient skills versus high proficient skills?

    I love the idea of setting the benchmark of the "average level" and then giving room for students to go beyond that "level".

    Thanks!
    Kieron
    @mathboyle

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