I am getting quite a few questions about how to grade 6th - 12th work. I know it can be a little confusing.
Here is what I'd like you to keep in mind:
- If you attended public school, you will remember that all teachers graded differently. Some were "easy" graders, some were "hard" graders. They all have some leeway in how they grade -- as do you as a parent educator.
- The goal is to assess your students as to their progress towards reaching the standards. Those assessments (in grades 6-12) should include daily work, graded assignments, tests, quizzes, written assignments, projects, and labs where appropriate. Generally NO more than one graded assignment daily, and AT LEAST one or more weekly graded assignments. Which assignments you grade, which ones you allow students to redo, which ones have more weight, is up to you - but they must follow your semester plan.
- Think of it this way, all public school teachers are required to keep a lesson plan (akin to our semester plan) and a grade book. If your students were attending public school and they received a grade that you disagreed with, you might ask the teacher to show you how they came up with that grade. That teacher would need to provide reasonable evidence. That is what you as the parent educator need to do. If we were ever audited, you would need evidence of how your student earned the grade that you provide. How you do that is really variable, as long as you can justify it.
- In online curriculum, most things are graded for you and you just add the provided grades to the grade book. When you are using a supported curriculum, it is generally pretty simple to grade assignments. If you are using all project based work, it gets a little trickier. You just need to document evidence of how you come up with your grades.
I have made an example grade book that you can refer to if you are looking for ideas on how to grade. It has 2 examples for middle school and 2 examples for high school. It by no means encompasses all of the options, but it might give you some ideas.
Please let me know if you have questions or comments!
