Special Area Class Grades

There are only three marking indicators used to reflect student progress in Special Area Classes (including Art, Library, Music, and Physical Education). These letter grades do not reflect an accumulation of points or the more traditional grading methodologies used in other core subject areas. They reflect a cumulative evaluation of skills and exercises over the course of the grading period. The marking indicators are:

• S = Strength
• P = Appropriate Progress
• N = Needs Improvement

Elementary Special Area teachers assess students in two basic categories: Skills and Participation/Behavior. Based upon a student’s abilities in each of these two categories, teachers assign one of the three marking indicators above to reflect student progress. In the Tyler Gradebook, letter grades cannot be processed therefore percentage values must be associated with the marking indicators by the Tyler system:

• S = 95%
• P = 85%
• N = 69%

Parents/guardians occasionally inquire as to how their student might improve a grade or if their student was ‘close’ to receiving a higher grade. Since these are actual letter grades and there are no real numeric ranges or points associated with them except as they are represented in the Tyler Gradebook, the answer is simple. Any student who demonstrates a higher level of proficiency in skills related to the subject area will move to the next higher level of assessment.