Biology is a state standards based laboratory course that studies living things from the microscopic to the

macroscopic. The ultimate goal is to help students become scientifically literate citizens.

Grading Guidelines:

1.  Students will be scored on their individual achievement toward the relevant Minnesota state science standards and district determined learning targets. Grades will not be affected by issues such as effort, attitude, and participation. Those factors will be reported separately in the grade book, but will not affect grade.  It is always in the student’s best interest to complete assignments and tasks given by the instructor in order to learn the necessary material. Even though there may be many opportunities for cooperative learning, students will never be assigned group grades.

2.  Assessments that are used to monitor student learning in progress and/or adjust teaching, such as in-class practice assignments, discussions, and other forms of formative assessment will not be factored into grades, but will have constructive feedback provided.  Only assessments that take place after learning is supposed to have occurred (“summative assessment”) will be used for grading purposes.  Assessments may take the form of paper tests, lab reports, practical tests, oral communication, or written assignments.  I will, however, keep a record of formative assessment information in order to validate my judgment in grading.

3.  New information showing additional learning about any given learning target will replace old information.  Grades will reflect the most recent learning.  Old scores relating to that learning target will be discarded.

4.  Report card grades will be assigned based on descriptors of achievement only.  For example, I will not include zeros (for late or missing assignments) in achievement statistics because they are both non-descriptive of learning, and extreme as values.  I will use the most recent assessment as an indicator of achievement unless there is an unusual circumstance. 

5.  Students may initiate a reassessment of a particular Standard or Learning Goal. Students are allowed one reassessment attempt per student per day. Students must meet with the instructor to plan exactly what learning target they want to attempt and how they want to reassess it. Students must demonstrate their attempts to relearn material prior to reassessment. Students may either get help or retake/redo/rework an assessment, but not both on the same day. I hold the right to reassess any learning target at any time. Although scores of zero will not be assigned, “incompletes” also indicate a lack of learning on the part of the student. Credit for the course cannot be awarded without sufficient evidence of learning.

6.  Absences are almost unavoidable for both teacher and students. Students are responsible for meeting with the teacher upon their return to class in order to determine what learning was missed and what, if anything, needs to be done in order to make up any assignments. Students will have one day for each day absent to make up the work. Being absent the day before a summative assessment does not excuse the student from participating in the assessment upon return. Please stay in contact via phone and/or e-mail.

Each learning target will be measured on the following scale:

Final Semester Grades:

A = Student has demonstrated Level 4 for no less than 4 Learning Targets and no less than Level 3 for the remaining Learning Targets

B = Student has demonstrated at least Level 3 for no less than 24 Learning Targets

C = Student has demonstrated at least Level 2 for no less than 24 Learning Targets

D = Student has demonstrated at least Level 1 for no less than 24 Learning Targets

F = Student has not attempted all Learning Targets