STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Scuola Vita Nuova Public Charter School is committed to maintaining a learning environment where every student can reach his/her full potential. Our school is based upon mutual respect and a shared set of values about the importance of education.

Therefore, all students are expected to fulfill the following responsibilities and to respect the rights of others.

ASSESSING STUDENT WORK

Most work that students complete at Scuola Vita Nuova Charter School is assessed using a standards-based format that provides students with feedback about whether or not they have met a given learning target.  In most cases work is assessed using the following format:

What specifically do these performance levels say about student achievement on a particular assessment of a learning target?

1 = Does Not Meet the Learning Target: A “1” is given when a student does not demonstrate substantive progress towards meeting the standards or criteria of a given assignment by an established deadline. This may mean that a student has not met the majority of performance indicators or criteria for that assessment, or they have not genuinely attempted to meet the rubric criteria.

2 = Partially Meets the Learning Target: A “2 is given when a student has demonstrated a substantive attempt to meet the standards of a given assignment by the established deadline, but needs more time to achieve competency. This may mean that a student has met the majority of the performance indicators or criteria for that assessment or genuinely attempted to meet the rubric criteria.

3 = Meets the Learning Target: The student’s work fundamentally meets the standard being assessed and the assessment requirements.  It is competent work that demonstrates that essential skills and knowledge for that grade level or content area. All of the criteria in the rubric are demonstrated in the work.

4 = Exceeds the Learning Target: The student’s work goes substantially above and beyond the grade level expectations for quality. The work may not be perfect but it includes complexity, sophistication, originality, depth and/or application that clearly exceeds what would be expected to meet the standards in this assessment.

On any given assignment or assessment, students receive feedback on the appropriate learning targets using the system described above.  Each level of performance is further explained using the scoring rubric for the assignment or assessment.

Giving students feedback in this manner reduces the focus on grades and puts student progress toward learning targets in the center of the process. We discourage teachers from translating this information into numeric or letter grade at this point in the process.

On tests or quizzes that are graded using a traditional percentage or point basis it is still necessary to share this information with students in terms of performance levels rather than letter or number grades. For example, a teacher may determine that a student must correctly answer 85% of the questions on a math test in order to demonstrate that he/she has met the target on that assessment. The teacher would indicate which questions were correct and incorrect on the student’s paper but she would NOT put 85% or B at the top of the paper. Instead, she would simply indicate that the student has met the learning target(s) being assessed. For each major assignment (other than paper and pencil tests), teachers develop rubrics that make clear the criteria that a student will have to meet in order to receive a 2, 3 or 4.

RESUBMITTING WORK

Students may retake an assessment or resubmit a piece of work in order to provide evidence of increased performance. It is essential when resubmitting work that students comply with the teacher’s policies regarding these opportunities. For example. a teacher may require projects to be resubmitted within a specific time frame or may require that students take certain steps (targeted assistance, peer tutoring, etc) before being eligible for a re-take.  When a student retakes an assessment or re-submits a project, the second grade is factored into the student’s average.

DETERMINING FINAL PERFORMANCE LEVELS

At the conclusion of each quarter, teachers must assign an overall performance level for each learning target.  The same performance level system (1-4) that is used on an individual assessment is also used to assess a students final performance on each learning target.  Teachers use the available evidence and data to determine an overall level of performance for EACH learning target taught during that quarter. This final performance level is reported using the 1-4 system described above and is recorded on the student’s report card.

TRANSLATING FROM PERFORMANCE LEVELS TO GRADES

Based on SVN policy, students at Scuola Vita Nuova Public Charter School are required to receive grades in all subjects including communication arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and fine arts classes.  Although instruction in many of these areas is integrated, students have regular opportunities to practice, master and apply specific content area skills that are assessed and graded separately.

For the purpose of report cards, we use the following grading scale in all subject areas:

A = Exemplary performance - exceeds expectations (90%-I00%)

B = Strong performance - meets expectations (80%-89%)

C = Satisfactory performance - some areas for improvement (70%-79%

ASSESSING STUDENT WORK

Most work that students complete at Scuola Vita Nuova Charter School is assessed using a standards-based format that provides students with feedback about whether or not they have met a given learning target.  In most cases work is assessed using the following format:

What specifically do these performance levels say about student achievement on a particular assessment of a learning target?

1 = Does Not Meet the Learning Target: A “1” is given when a student does not demonstrate substantive progress towards meeting the standards or criteria of a given assignment by an established deadline. This may mean that a student has not met the majority of performance indicators or criteria for that assessment, or they have not genuinely attempted to meet the rubric criteria.

2 = Partially Meets the Learning Target: A “2 is given when a student has demonstrated a substantive attempt to meet the standards of a given assignment by the established deadline, but needs more time to achieve competency. This may mean that a student has met the majority of the performance indicators or criteria for that assessment or genuinely attempted to meet the rubric criteria.

3 = Meets the Learning Target: The student’s work fundamentally meets the standard being assessed and the assessment requirements.  It is competent work that demonstrates that essential skills and knowledge for that grade level or content area. All of the criteria in the rubric are demonstrated in the work.

4 = Exceeds the Learning Target: The student’s work goes substantially above and beyond the grade level expectations for quality. The work may not be perfect but it includes complexity, sophistication, originality, depth and/or application that clearly exceeds what would be expected to meet the standards in this assessment.

On any given assignment or assessment, students receive feedback on the appropriate learning targets using the system described above.  Each level of performance is further explained using the scoring rubric for the assignment or assessment.

Giving students feedback in this manner reduces the focus on grades and puts student progress toward learning targets in the center of the process. We discourage teachers from translating this information into numeric or letter grade at this point in the process.

On tests or quizzes that are graded using a traditional percentage or point basis it is still necessary to share this information with students in terms of performance levels rather than letter or number grades. For example, a teacher may determine that a student must correctly answer 85% of the questions on a math test in order to demonstrate that he/she has met the target on that assessment. The teacher would indicate which questions were correct and incorrect on the student’s paper but she would NOT put 85% or B at the top of the paper. Instead, she would simply indicate that the student has met the learning target(s) being assessed. For each major assignment (other than paper and pencil tests), teachers develop rubrics that make clear the criteria that a student will have to meet in order to receive a 2, 3 or 4.

RESUBMITTING WORK

Students may retake an assessment or resubmit a piece of work in order to provide evidence of increased performance. It is essential when resubmitting work that students comply with the teacher’s policies regarding these opportunities. For example. a teacher may require projects to be resubmitted within a specific time frame or may require that students take certain steps (targeted assistance, peer tutoring, etc) before being eligible for a re-take.  When a student retakes an assessment or re-submits a project, the second grade is factored into the student’s average.

DETERMINING FINAL PERFORMANCE LEVELS

At the conclusion of each quarter, teachers must assign an overall performance level for each learning target.  The same performance level system (1-4) that is used on an individual assessment is also used to assess a students final performance on each learning target.  Teachers use the available evidence and data to determine an overall level of performance for EACH learning target taught during that quarter. This final performance level is reported using the 1-4 system described above and is recorded on the student’s report card.

TRANSLATING FROM PERFORMANCE LEVELS TO GRADES 

Based on SVN policy, students at Scuola Vita Nuova Public Charter School are required to receive grades in all subjects including communication arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and fine arts classes.  Although instruction in many of these areas is integrated, students have regular opportunities to practice, master and apply specific content area skills that are assessed and graded separately.

For the purpose of report cards, we use the following grading scale in all subject areas:

A = Exemplary performance - exceeds expectations (90%-I00%)

B = Strong performance - meets expectations (80%-89%)

C = Satisfactory performance - some areas for improvement (70%-79%)

N = Not yet acceptable, needs more time and effort to produce acceptable work.

To determine a student’s grade, a teacher averages all of the student’s performance levels from a given quarter on all learning targets. For each target the teacher begins with the most recent and reliable evidence of student performance (0-4). The totals for each target are combined and averaged by dividing by the total number of targets. The averages are then converted using the following scale:

3.9-4.0=A+                                         2.6-2.8=B-

3.6-3.8= A                                        2.5-2.6=C+

3.4-3.5= A-                                          2.2-2.4=C

3.2-3.3= B+                                     2.0-2.1=C-

2.9-3.1= B                                     0-2.0 = N

N = Not yet acceptable, needs more time and effort to produce acceptable work.

To determine a student’s grade, a teacher averages all of the student’s performance levels from a given quarter on all learning targets. For each target the teacher begins with the most recent and reliable evidence of student performance (0-4). The totals for each target are combined and averaged by dividing by the total number of targets. The averages are then converted using the following scale:

3.9-4.0=A+                                         2.6-2.8=B-

3.6-3.8= A                                        2.5-2.6=C+

3.4-3.5= A-                                          2.2-2.4=C

3.2-3.3= B+                                     2.0-2.1=C-

2.9-3.1= B                                     0-2.0 = N