Social Studies Department Policies and Procedures
Late Work :
Official department policy is if an assignment is one class day (defined as the next A or B day the class meets) late, the maximum grade a student can earn is a 70. If an assignment is two days late, the maximum grade a student can earn is a 50. After two class days, the students will receive no grade for an assignment turned in. However, is a student takes the time to turn in an assignment after the two class days (as opposed to “giving up,” and turning nothing in) the teacher should make note of this in the grade book (how many days late and if the work was of quality or not) for consideration at the end of a grading period.
Grading Categories and Weights :
The Carroll High School Social Studies Department will use the following guideline for grading percentages:
Homework: 30% with weight of 1
Daily work(work done in class and due by end of class): 30% with weight of 2
Quizzes: 30% with weight of 3
Tests and “mini-projects”: 70% with weight of 1
Major projects: 70% with weight of 2
Curving Grades :
When we give assessments of any kind, it is because we want to see how much our students have learned. Therefore, we will not curve any grade on any assignment for any reason. Curving a student’s grade sends a poor message to the student, that their best effort is not necessarily needed, because their grade will be adjusted if they do badly. It also sends a poor message to the administration, that we are either not teaching to our full ability if our students cannot score well on our assessments, or that we are designing work in order to create a false bell curve in our grade books. Either way, it is a situation we will avoid from now on. Bonus point questions on tests and quizzes are fine, but make sure they are appropriate to the material being tested.