Course – Students will earn a course grade of “Pass” or “Fail” based on the strands assessed for that marking period. If a student receives an “Insufficient Evidence” for any strand in the marking period, their overall course grade will be “Fail” until the teacher has received enough information to make a determination of their knowledge and skills.

Strands – Students will be given a grade of Mastery, Approaching Mastery, Needs Support, or Insufficient Evidence for each strand assessed, each marking period (every strand may not be assessed every marking period). Strands are grouping of like concepts taught within the subject and are guided by state, national, or international curriculum and best practices.

Essential Standards – These are a subset of the entire curriculum that are the priority knowledge and skills that have endurance and leverage for students’ success in school this year, next year, and beyond. Whereas all standards are important, the prioritizing of standards helps educators to choose between coverage and mastery from a large numbers of standards (DuFour & Marzano, 2011; Reeves, 2010). Promise standards also help make learning expectations more transparent to students and families and help the district use its resources to achieve high levels of learning for all students. Promise Standards should reflect what knowledge and skills are needed to be successful at the next level, not what is to be tested by the state.

Learning Targets – Sometimes called “I can” statements, these are daily or weekly goals written into student friendly language. They serve the purpose of helping students know if they are making day to day progress and providing transparency in learning. 

Link to Curriculum Guides (coming soon)