Response to Secondary Standards‐ Based Grading and Reporting Handbook

After reading the Spokane Public Schools Grading Handbook, I gained a somewhat understanding of the grading that schools in the Spokane district uses. In the handbook it shows examples of PowerSchool and how it can help parents and teacher communicate through an online source. Instead of parents asking their children for their grades, they can simply log on to the website and check the grades themselves. I think that PowerSchool is a great source for teachers, parents, and students to use regularly. I also liked the section explaining the power of getting a zero on an assignment. Simply by getting a zero, a student’s grade can drop significantly, often by one or two whole grades. While I understand the significance of a zero, I don’t know if I agree with the idea that teachers have no need to use zeros as a score. What if the student never turns in his/her work and refuses to do so? Am I as the teacher supposed to not give the student a zero?

As for the homework section, I’m still not sure if I completely agree with this. I do think that it is important to do work in school because students have lives outside of school. Personally, I plan on giving very little homework unless absolutely needed. For example, if a student needs more time on an essay that they are writing, I would recommend that they take it home. However, there should be plenty of time to write an essay when given the time in class. The part that I do not agree with, however, is the fact that the manual recommends that homework not count towards the overall grade. I’m not sure if students would willingly complete homework if the assignment does not go towards their grade. There is a section that claims that students would do it if they saw an importance, but I do not think that would be the case for a lot of students. I know that in high school, if there was an assignment that didn’t count towards my grade, I would most certainly not do it.

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