We understand this COVID-19 pandemic has had an overwhelming impact on all of our families, and we want to extend grace to our students during these challenging times. During the last few weeks, we have provided varying levels of support and resources to use at home and as we continue this practice, we have developed grading guidelines we will be using during our COVID-19 closure.

PSJA’s Goal:

The evaluation of student work and assignment of grades will be applied fairly and consistently and focused on student proficiency. Emphasis will be placed on providing rich, timely feedback to students, not necessarily on assigning grades. Students should not be penalized for the following:

• the method used by the student to respond (i.e., apply the same criteria in grading assignments whether the student submitted digitally or in hard copy)
• inability to access resources to complete the assignment

Grade Reporting for all students:

No recorded grades will be included during weeks of March 23, 2020 – April 9, 2020 to allow transition to distance learning, initial contact with students/families and determine methods of distance learning participation for different students.

PSJA Teachers will not assign any numerical grades to students, they will use the following:

P= showing progress, NI= needs improvement, I= incomplete/ no work submitted/ no contact

Note: An Incomplete will be recorded to allow a student to make up the work at a later time determined by the district. The Grade Placement Committee (GPC) will decide promotion/assigned/retention for a student who receives an Incomplete, but only if everyone on the committee unanimously agrees that the student is likely to succeed in the next grade. Even if the GPC decides to promote the student, the student may need to participate in the required accelerated instruction in the next school year.

Grading Procedures for High School courses needing Credit attainment:

• PSJA teachers will not assign any numerical grades to students. Gradebooks through TAC and report cards will only reflect a Passing-Demonstrating of Proficiency (P) or Incomplete (I). There will be no final exams this semester.
• Semester Two grades for the 2019-2020 school year will only include up to 4th six-weeks in the grade point average (GPA) and class rank calculations for the classes of 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Students with an Incomplete course:

• The grade would remain an incomplete until they could recover the semester marking periods for the course via independent study, online credit recovery program, or any other option that the district would provide. Incompletes would have a deadline of August 21, 2020 to recover course credit. Students may obtain credit through the following delivery methods: Grad-point, teacher created packets, Enrichment Courses and/or Accelerated Courses.

Dual Enrollment / Advance Placement / Concurrent Enrollment:

• Dual enrollment policies, including grading, will be determined between the educational institution and a college or University Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
• Enrollment in a dual credit / AP course will give weight to students Grade Point Average (GPA), as long as student is enrolled in course until the semester ending in Spring 2020.
• If student withdraws from a dual credit and or an AP course, GPA weight on a 5.5 scale will not be earned.
• April 20, 2020 is the deadline to withdraw from a University or College Course. If a student enrolled in a college course never initiated contact with the professor or completed any course work, it is the responsibility of the student to drop the course. (In this situation, students will not receive AP or DC weight on their GPA). 

Guidance Relating to Seniors Only:

• While all students have been impacted by COVID-19 related school closures, every effort is being made to ensure that high school seniors have the opportunity and adequate period of time to earn the necessary credits for on-time graduation. The period of time for course completion, demonstration of mastery, and course remediation must be finalized by May 15, 2020.

Class Rankings:

• Class rankings for 2020 seniors will be calculated using the fourth six-weeks, second semester grades, for the determination of valedictorian, salutatorian and other honors.
• Individual Graduation Plans (IGP) should be completed and reported by May 15, 2020 of the current academic year by counselors. Considering the impact of the school closure period, schools may complete IGPs virtually or over the phone and have the Individual Graduation Committee (IGC) review for approval or disapproval.  Board Policy EIF (Legal)

If you would like more information about these grading guidelines, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s school or email customerservice@psjaisd.us with your child’s name, school name and grade level.

Thank you for your attention, stay safe!