Academics

Beaufort Middle School Grading Practices and Commitments Purpose:

The purpose of BMS grading practices and commitments is to share information about assessment, grading, grade reporting and what you can expect from Beaufort Middle School regarding students’ grades. Grading is based on clearly defined criteria that show students’ content learning, knowledge and skills. The goal for our grading practices is that grades are consistent, fair, accurate, meaningful and supportive of learning across all grade levels and all courses. The commitments to BMS families detail how we assign grades and report them to show what students have learned and the skills and processes they are mastering.

South Carolina Uniform Grading Scale:

Letter Grade Numerical Grade A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 59 and below

Numerical grades are mandated in SC Middle Schools and the minimum passing grade is 60%.

Honor Roll:
Principal’s Honor Roll = Students have received A’s (90% and above) in all subjects/classes.
Honor Roll = Students have received A’s and B’s (80% and above) in all subjects/classes.

Progress Reports and Report Cards: The purpose of these reports is to communicate to students and families student progress in all classes. Distribution dates are indicated on the school district calendar. A formal progress report will be sent home mid-way through each quarter. Some teachers may provide informal progress notes at other times during the grading period.
Report cards are issued at the end of each quarter. Teachers contact families if a student’s grade is below C/70%.

Reteach and Relearn When students do not demonstrate full mastery on summative assessments, they may have an opportunity to “redo” them after additional practice or re-teaching. Teachers are not required to provide students “redo” opportunities on all assessments. It is the responsibility of the student to follow the process outlined by the teachers on his/her team to redo an assignment. When students are given “redo” opportunities, teachers will provide them feedback so they can improve the quality of their work. R&R (Reteach and Relearn) is provided regularly for students. Re-graded assessments will be posted to PowerSchool by the end of the grading period. It is the student’s responsibility to complete work by the due date assigned. When students do not complete and turn in assignments during a unit of study, any late work that may be accepted for regrading must be completed by the end of that unit. Late work not completed initially, unless due to lawful absences, is at teacher discretion for make-up, reteach, and relearn. Missing assignments will be noted as missing and will receive a grade of 0 in teachers’ gradebooks until submitted.

Make-up work Students who have lawful absences will be granted the opportunity to make-up any missed assignments and /or work due to the absence(s). The period for making up the work will be a minimum of one (1) class day for each class day missed to a maximum of one week. When recorded in PowerSchool, these grades will be marked with the date of the original assignment regardless of the time the student submits it. Students who have unexcused absences may be given the opportunity to make up work at the discretion of the principal and teacher during make-up sessions; however, the unexcused absence remains in the student's record.

Formative Assessments are used to monitor learning and measure students’ progress toward mastery of specific objectives and standards; formative assessments provide ongoing feedback that allows students and teachers to modify instructional and learning strategies.

Summative Assessments are cumulative evaluations of learning that require students to apply content and skills aligned to formative assessments and classroom instruction that occurred during a unit. Assignment of student grades is the purview of the teacher. Grades cannot be changed without following BCSD established procedures which include explicit consent of the teacher. Teachers develop research-based grading and assessment practices to guide the recording and reporting of student progress under the supervision of the principal. The BCSD follows the South Carolina guidelines for grading/assessment. As such, no school leader or teacher will engage in grading practices that violate state policy. Since teachers have sole control over grading for their students, it is at the discretion of the teacher if he/she determines a “grade floor” or lowest possible grade for an assessment.