At Patsy Sommer Elementary, students are taught the Texas standards for their grade level known as the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). These can be found on the TEA (Texas Education Agency) website http://tea.texas.gov/curriculum/teks/.
Evidence of Mastery
Students are assessed in several ways including observations through oral and written communication. There are two types of assessments we can consider when assessing students for mastery of the TEKS.
- Formative assessment – is tied to student’s daily classwork during instruction and measures how they are progressing in these learning goals.
- Summative assessment – measures student’s mastery at the end of a concept, unit or project.
Third Grade, Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade
Students earn numerical grades on a 0-100 scale
Student Learning Behaviors and Expectations
All students are expected to always do their best and take responsibility for their own learning with teacher support. At times a student may not follow through on an assignment which may be reflective in their grade. Students are most successful when student, teacher and parent partner together to teach and develop effective work and study habits. Parents are encouraged to view grades with their students on a regular basis through the Home Access Center.
Grading on Student Learning
Teachers continuously teach and assess students. These formative assessments or daily work reflects students’ growth along their learning journey. Grades will be recorded to reflect this progress. Struggling students will receive consistent support from the teacher through additional instruction, small groups, or extra practice. At the end of the unit or concepts taught, students will complete summative assessments in order to measure how well they have learned the information. Summative assessments may occur in the form of a written test, essay, project, oral report, etc.
If a student does not meet at least a mastery of 70%, the teacher will analyze the student work to reteach any concepts not mastered. Students will retest or make corrections to show that they have learned the information. The highest score will be recorded in the gradebook with a comment stating the original score and purpose of the adjusted score.
Number of Grades per Quarter
District Policy (EIA Local) states that grading guidelines shall ensure that grades reflect a student’s relative mastery of an assignment and that a sufficient number of grades are taken to support the grade average assigned. Elementary teachers will take a minimum of seven grades each quarter in each core content area (reading, writing, math, science, social studies). Grades will be entered into the Teacher Access Center weekly.
Grading Categories
Classwork/Daily Grades 70%
Assessments 30%
When calculating a nine-week average for a content area, no single grade will count more than 30% of the total average. No two grades will count more than 50% of the total average.
Late Work
Our goal is for students to learn concepts being presented in class, regardless of the work being late. If students have late assignments, they will be notified by their teacher. It is the responsibility of the students to write this information in their agenda to share with their parents. A point deduction for late work may be given but will not exceed 10 points. All missing assignments must be returned within the grade level time period to receive a grade. Any assignments not received within 10 days may receive a zero in the gradebook. Teachers will make every effort to ensure that there are no missing assignments, however ultimately it is the student’s’ responsibility to maintain their work. Missing assignments can also be viewed in the Home Access Center.
Specials Classes
Teachers in art, music and physical education report student progress on the report card using the following terms.
E Excellent
S Satisfactory
N Needs improvement
U Unsatisfactory
Progress Reports/Conferences
A progress report will be sent home during the fourth week of each quarter. Teachers will contact parents if the student’s grades are not passing at this time. Parents and teachers may request a conference at any other time for other academic or behavioral concerns.
Mrs. Kim's 5th Grade Class 