Student Evaluation

The following explanation of evaluation terms is from the District Policy 212 Reporting Student Progress.

Soft Grades — Homework assignments and/or in-class assignments, including participation and extra credit, shall comprise 20% of each nine-week grade. This 20% is categorized as a soft grade or anything not graded for accuracy, correctness and quality. An effort grade falls into the soft grade category.

Hard Grades — The other 80% of each nine-week grade is categorized as a hard grade or everything graded that represents the knowledge and skills attained in a course of study.

Midterms & Final Exam — A mid-term and final examination is strongly recommended. When given a course, these exams shall not be computed as part of the nine-weeks grade and will collectively comprise 20% of the final course grade. If a final exam is given, a mid-term exam must be given and each will represent 10% of a course grade. The stipulation will include semester courses.

Final Course Grades — To compute final course grades, teachers will average the four nine-week percent and that will make up 80% of the final grade. A mid-term and a final exam will each be worth 10% of the final grade.

Quality Point Average

Mars Area High School will compute student quality point averages using the following procedures:

1. Teacher assigned final grades (percentages) will be converted to letter grades using the districts grading scale:
   
   100-97%...A+         89-87%...B+         79-77%...C+     69-67%...D+
   96-93%...A             86-83%...B           76-73%...C       66-63%...D
   92-90%...A-            82-80%...B-          72-70%...C-      62-60%...D-
                                             59% or below…F
   
   
2. Letter grades will be assigned using the following table:
   
   A+...4.33             B+…3.33       C+…2.33         D+…1.33   F…0
   A…..4.00            B..…3.00        C..…2.00         D…..1.00      
   A-….3.67            B-….2.67       C-.…1.67         D-.…0.67    

Exceptions to the above scale are made for Advanced Courses, CHS (College within the High School) Courses, and Advanced Placement Courses, as follows:

1. An additional ½ quality point (.5) will be given for a grade of A, B, C in advanced weighted courses. An additional quality point (1.0) will be given for a grade of A, B, C, in AP or CHS courses. A grade of D or F will not qualify for additional quality points for advanced, CHS and AP courses.
   
   
2. Quality points are then multiplied by the credit value of the course, added to the other points earned, and divided by the number of credits attempted.
   
   
3. Official Quality Point Averages (QPA’s) will be computed using final grades and will be posted on the student’s permanent record at the conclusion of each school year.
   
   
4. Class rank will be determined by arranging QPA’s in descending order.
   
   
5. QPA’s that appear on student report cards throughout the school year should be considered as unofficial and are approximations of current grades.
   
   
6. For the purpose of determining commencement speakers at graduation and other awards, class rank will be computed at the end of the third grading period of the senior year. Quality Point Averages will also be computed at the end of the third grading period for juniors and seniors for consideration for Academic Excellence Awards.