ABOUT KIDS AND OUR MISSION
Inspiring Minds | Shaping Futures | Kids First
KIDS (RSU 2)
The communities of Dresden, Farmingdale, Hallowell and Monmouth.
Clear feedback from the community, parents, students, and educators in KIDS made evident the need to rethink how we record and communicate learning progress in grades 6-12. While we know there are significant problem areas in the proficiency-based model the district currently uses, we also know from experience that a purely traditional system isn’t best for students.
6-12 Grading news update: How we are doing things this school year
KIDS adopted a hybrid approach to scoring and reporting our students’ learning that will improve transparency and consistency. This necessary growth reflects our collective desire to provide a challenging, empowering, and learner-centered education for all students.
Why Did We Want to be Standards-based?
All students are capable of learning, and it is vital to our district’s vision and mission for them to achieve competency in core power standards before they leave our schools. It benefits no one for students not to acquire the knowledge and skills outlined in the standards and simply move on. Because concepts build on one another from course to course and year to year, a minimum learning threshold must be set to keep students on the path to success.
Why Did We Want to Change Our Grading Scale for Grades 6-12?
Because parents must play an active role in students’ learning, we strive to communicate that learning as clearly as possible. A transparent, comprehensible reporting system will ensure that all stakeholders can cooperatively hold students to high expectations.
Grades that provide a more nuanced picture of learning encourage students to challenge themselves and reach for higher levels of achievement.
The scale outlined below parallels those at many post-secondary schools (including dual enrollment classes in KIDS high schools), and this consistency will help students understand their progress across courses.
How Do We Assess, Score, and Determine Course Grade?
Formative Work: Scores will be entered in Infinite Campus, but will not average into course score
Summative Work: Scores will be entered into Infinite Campus and comprise the student’s overall course score.
Course Grade = Average of Power Standards
How Will We Address Habits of Work?
Academic achievement not only requires acquisition and demonstration of content knowledge, but it also relies on habits, skills, and dispositions that will serve students in life and work after they graduate. HOW and academic achievement describe different areas of student understanding and growth, however, so RSU 2 will measure and report these separately to make this distinction clear to all stakeholders.
KIDS School-wide Habits of Work Rubric
On the following page of this document, you will find the KIDS School-wide Work Habits Rubric. This rubric has been designed to assess whether a student can meet our school’s expectations for work habits.
Our expectation at KIDS is that students will develop work habits that will support them through their post-high-school training, in their careers, and in their lives. We expect that students will show up, that they will arrive in class with the materials they need, that they get their work done by the deadline, that they participate in activities, and that they are positive classroom citizens.
We will have separate academic and Habits of Work grades and both grades will be reported on report cards and transcripts for every class. HOW grades will be reported on report cards in 2024-25 school year (step 1) but not transcripts. HOW grades will potentially be added to the transcript (step 2) in 2025-26.
Using this Rubric:
This rubric was designed to be used by the teacher to assess the work habits that a student has exhibited every two weeks. The first two criteria can be filled out based on the student’s homework/assessment completion record in Infinite Campus. The last two criteria are more subjective and can be filled out based on the teacher’s holistic evaluation of the student’s performance; however, some teachers may want to use a periodic check-in to gather some data about time management and organization (this kind of check-in is optional, not required). The teacher will enter ONE overall score in IC every two weeks. Any score that does not meet will have an explanation in the comment section.
Common Communication and Accessibility
Including a common syllabus for every course will provide consistency & transparency for students and parents. The syllabus lets students and parents know what the course is about, where it is going and what will be required of them to be successful in the course. It provides important information about expectations for students, in the course and within the school. The syllabus will provide information about district policies as well so that information is consistently being reviewed by each teacher with every student.
How Are We Holding Students Accountable?
Adequate preparation for life after high school requires students to take an active role in their own learning. Meeting deadlines and preparing adequately for assessments are important components of this preparation. While a purely traditional approach leaves unacceptable learning gaps, a system that ignores students’ responsibility for their choices is equally harmful. To this end, KIDS will adopt a system that seeks balance between accountability for strong academic habits and for achievement on power standards.
The RSU 2 Extension Request Form:
“Honest Effort” will be required to be considered for an extension request.
The extension form must be completed on or before the assessment due date. The teacher will decide how long the student has for the extension (max 2 weeks).
FLEX Time must be used to finish the assessment or an alternate assignment, preferably with the teacher.
Zero
If the student:
Did not meet the deadline
Did not complete the original or alternate assessment during FLEX time within two weeks
Did not complete or receive approval on the extension form
Did not meet the extended deadline after receiving approval on an extension form
Then:
Student will receive a zero in the IC grade book
Student must attend credit recovery (FLEX, before or after school, study halls, summer school) to meet failed power standard
Retakes of Summative Assessments-
The RSU 2 Retake Form will be completed for retakes
Optional Retake:
If student scores 60-69, they qualify for an optional retake
Optional retake score is capped at 76 (higher of two scores)
If the score brings a Power Standard average below 70, it becomes a Required Retake
Required Retake:
If student scores 59 or lower, they are required to retake the assessment
Required Retake grade capped at 76 (higher of two scores)
If student fails again, guided re-teaching by classroom teacher for another retake during FLEX, before/after school, study hall/content lab, vacation school, summer school
Voluntary Retake:
One voluntary retake per class per semester
No cap on Voluntary Retake grade (higher of two scores)
Must be completed within the quarter that the assessment was assigned
Optional and required retakes must be completed in a maximum two-week timeframe
Teachers may assign an alternate version of the assessment for retakes
The RSU 2 Retake Form will be completed for retakes
