Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

[pickandgrin]

Please forgive me if I've overlooked this in the materials, but I don't see it. Is there a recommended rubric for calculating end-of-year grades for Algebra I? I have quizzes, tests, and the final exam. Is there another category I should include? I'd love advice on how to weight the different categories. We are considering counting this course toward his high school transcript since it and his Latin work qualify (we are in Tennessee).

Thanks!

PS--My oldest is going into high school next year. Let the obvious high-school newbie questions begin.

Also: "Mom, when will I ever use this math?" "When you calculate your kids' grades, dear. That's when."

[Mom2mthj]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

I am interested in what others say. The text I used for algebra 1 didn't have a final exam, just chapter tests. I did 20% homework (did you do all the work everyday, correct mistakes, etc) and 80% tests. We are using the MP geometry plans this year so there are chapter tests and a final provided (thanks Cindy!). I plan on 20% homework, 60% tests, and 20% final exam. She just has to finish now, but at least she is almost done with week 29 in the plans ;-)

My daughter is finishing 9th so I'm still a newbie myself :-)

[Jen (formerly) in Japan]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Jessica,

Yes, you will want to count Alg I on his high school transcript, but not into his high school GPA. Colleges will want to see when he completed it. Many students, certainly the competitive ones, will have completed Algebra I and sometimes Geometry, before high school. You are merely showing that on the transcript.

Brick and Mortar teachers can weight their grading how they will. When I taught middle school, I wanted to give the students the most weight I could toward daily work since dedication and hard work is a skill they are building at that age. Later on, in high school, I am fine with giving more weight to the actual content (tests). Might I suggest:


Homework: 20-25%

Quizzes (how frequent were these?): 30% When I taught FF, I weighted quizzes heavily since there is one per week!

Tests: 30%

Final: 15-20%



When high school comes, flip-flop the percentages of the homework with the final. If you are grading for a classroom setting (like the Latin work at your cottage school), you can include a small participation category (10-15%), even dropping homework entirely if the parents are handling that category anyway. That is how I graded the Forms during my time at the Latin school.



Jen

[tanya]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

I just wanted to pop in here and say that Cindy Davis is currently on a school trip to Europe. She isn't ignoring you; she is just wandering around Italy and Greece for a couple of weeks with a bunch of teenagers. I'll forward this post to her so that she can help you when she returns. It looks like you are getting good help from others in the meantime.

Tanya

[CatherineS]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Please forgive me if I've overlooked this in the materials, but I don't see it. Is there a recommended rubric for calculating end-of-year grades for Algebra I? I have quizzes, tests, and the final exam. Is there another category I should include? I'd love advice on how to weight the different categories. We are considering counting this course toward his high school transcript since it and his Latin work qualify (we are in Tennessee).

Thanks!

PS--My oldest is going into high school next year. Let the obvious high-school newbie questions begin.

Also: "Mom, when will I ever use this math?" "When you calculate your kids' grades, dear. That's when."

Hi Jessica!
There is a grading rubric in the Algebra I lesson plans. The recommendation in the LPs is:
Tests 50%
Quizzes 30%
Final exam 10%
Homework completion 10%

[pickandgrin]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Ah, thank you all! I didn't think to look in the plans. With so many books around here I overlook what I'm overlooking!

[melaneesa]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Jessica,

Yes, you will want to count Alg I on his high school transcript, but not into his high school GPA. Colleges will want to see when he completed it.

Jen

I really need to learn about this sort of thing. Jen, are you coming to SG? I'm hoping someone there can give me some guidance about transcripts. My oldest took some co-op classes this year with high schoolers. She was the only 8th grader in the classes. All the moms are telling me I should give her high school credit, but I'm not sure how to show that on a transcript that will show 4 years.

[pickandgrin]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Melanie, Are you registered with an umbrella School? I am registered with Homelife Academy and they take care of all these kind of questions for me. It's going to vary state-by-state so your questions have to be targeted towards that. For example, Homelife Academy recommends counting no more than two or three classes during your 8th grade year towards high school credit. They only suggest you count a high school math class or foreign language class, or if it was particularly exceptional, a science class with the lab. Everything else starts to look like fluff on a homeschoolers transcript if you add too much in the 8th grade year. For us, there was no way to put it on the high school transcript and have it not count towards the high school GPA. We decided to count his Algebra 1 and Fourth Form Latin. He will continue to have math and Latin through graduation. Those will end up being high quality electives. Much of what you want to take and show in high school depends on what your child wants to do after high school. Since they are only 13 or 14, that is really hard to know! We have just decided to pursue the path that will have him ready to attend a four-year university or military academy. That way, he will be well positioned to do whatever he wants after high school, even if that is just starting a business or apprenticing a trade.

Hope this helps!

[Jen (formerly) in Japan]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

I really need to learn about this sort of thing. Jen, are you coming to SG?

They only suggest you count a high school math class or foreign language class, or if it was particularly exceptional, a science class with the lab. Everything else starts to look like fluff on a homeschoolers transcript if you add too much in the 8th grade year.

Yes, I will be there. I am looking forward to it!

Jessica's advice is the same I would give. The DoD schools had the same policy, but without any science whatsoever, which was a huge problem for my MIT bound kid. That said, colleges look for math courses (Alg I, Geometry), and up to two years of foreign language credit as the norm. *Even* if we are giving our classically educated kids amazing Literature choices in middle school, resist the impulse to "give high school credit" for reading The Illiad, etc. That is not even a Thing. English 9 is a Thing. You don't want your child's transcript to smack of Mommy Grades, kwim?


Jen

[melaneesa]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Science and foreign language - yep! Apologia Physical Science with lab, and French. They were strong classes that she did a lot of work for, and all the other students in those classes were in high school and are receiving credit. I just don't understand the idea of showing it on a transcript but not using it for GPA. Also, I'm thinking the transcript will show 9th grade: here's what she took. 10th grade: list of classes. Are you saying I need to indicate that she was in 8th grade and took these classes? I'm not sure how to arrange the thing! :-)

[melaneesa]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Melanie, Are you registered with an umbrella School? I am registered with Homelife Academy and they take care of all these kind of questions for me.

I think the term must mean something different in TN. Here, an umbrella school gives oversight instead of the school district. You know, making sure we're actually doing school. So, yes, I am registered with an umbrella, but that just means another homeschooling mom from my church will check the boxes the state requires. I'm not 100% sure about taking this kind of advice from them. My evaluation is tomorrow; I can ask her.

[Mom2mthj]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Science and foreign language - yep! Apologia Physical Science with lab, and French. They were strong classes that she did a lot of work for, and all the other students in those classes were in high school and are receiving credit. I just don't understand the idea of showing it on a transcript but not using it for GPA. Also, I'm thinking the transcript will show 9th grade: here's what she took. 10th grade: list of classes. Are you saying I need to indicate that she was in 8th grade and took these classes? I'm not sure how to arrange the thing! :-)

Here's my two cents...take it for what it is worth. Showing classes from 8th grade is mostly important for things like math and language where your goal is to get through a sequence of classes, but you need a minimum number of credits for graduation or college admissions. It is pretty obvious you took algebra if you aced algebra 2, but geometry is often a specific high school requirement so if that was taken in middle school people might not know that later on down the road. Some may include it in the GPA, some may show the grade, but not average it in, some may just show it as "early high school credit".

As for the specific class, I don't know that much about the content of apologia physical science or your daughter's personal goals. I don't feel that for a science/math bound student that physical science is going to be looked at as high school science work. It is not the typical high school path for those majors and not what I would pull ahead to the high school transcript even if it were completed with high school aged students. If your student had completed high school biology or high school chemistry in middle school (basic boxes that need to be checked) then I would note it on the transcript and be sure to follow it up with an AP class in high school.

She has four years of high school - note the French and just let her physical science class be the good background and confidence boost for high school science that I am sure it was. Hope that helps.

[Jen (formerly) in Japan]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Agreed, Dorinda. But Mel, if you have the patience to read further, I will elaborate as to why I agree with Dorinda.

So, literally "science credits" was my biggest anxiety when my oldest was approaching high school. As you can see by my sig, he did eventually get into MIT, but when he was a middle schooler, and I was in the early years of my homeschooling, I was a wreck. He took Apologia's Physical in 5th and aced it. He took high school biology in 6th (aced), "something else" in 7th (aced), and high school chemistry in 8th (aced... I am a chemist, and I taught the class at a homeschool co-op. He was my star pupil, even with homeschooled seniors in that class). When I began to call Cal Tech and MIT and StateU, I was getting information I didn't want to hear: Lady, if you transcript too much before 9th, we basically roll our eyes and toss the application.

That is when I learned: although colleges and universities are generally "homeschool friendly", you can't get too far outside certain boundaries (even when they happen to be true).

I also learned a ton about transcripting: yes, you DO show "middle school classes" in a separate line. No, you do not include them in the high school GPA. High school GPA can only include courses taken from 9th -12th grade.

I promise I am not trying to frustrate you, just give you the facts.

But, there are a few considerations. Dorinda is SPOT ON that Physical Science is generally considered "Honors 8th science" or "Regular 9th science". It can't be both. For super competitive students (Ivies, Tech schools, top StateU applicants), those kids will have Biology as their 9th grade science, followed by at least 2 other science courses (Chem, physics, and/or AP). THREE science credits is the least your high schooler should take between 9th -12th. When the college admissions director sees Biology as the student's 9th grade science course, he will then already know that physical science happened in 8th. *That* is why you do not have to transcript Physical science on her high school transcript. Besides, "physical science" is a throw away term in the STEM world. It implies a bit of this or that in the physical science world. It is not, technically, a content based class like high school Bio, Chem, Physics, Human Anatomy, etc. Please don't think I am being critical here! I am trying to show you the placement of physical science in the high school science pecking order.

Now, another consideration is this: how many other science classes is your child going to take? If she will struggle to get two more in, then you may have to take some drastic measures, but they do NOT include transcripting in 8th, then taking only two more in 9th-12th. Admissions officers are going to scrutinize for those (min) three high school courses taken from 9th -12th.

IF she will be taking only two more science classes to get to the minimum of three, I'll make a suggestion, but it is unorthodox: show it as her 9th grade class. I can't think if a way around this.

Another consideration is which transcript format you will use for her? Nearly every B&M school uses "Middle school credits shown on top, high school credits by grade shown below". That allows both the high school and the college counselor to see at a glance when a student has done something unusual (take fewer or more classes in a SY than expected and a few other things). BUT... there is another format that shows "high school credits grouped by subject". That could help you in this situation. One block would say "English 9, English 10, English 11, English 12", and in the science block, you could list Physical Science, followed by her two other science courses. This is NOT the norm for most schools, though, so keep in mind that this format of transcript is already a little "different". Fine, but it will stand out as unusual.



To summarize, you should only consider Physical Science a high school level course for at Regular Track science sequence, and it must be shown to be taken between 9th -12th.


If I've been unclear, I'm happy to keep elaborating. I doubt Jessica will throw us off her post for discussing high school transcripting, ha, ha.




Jen

[jenniferjb]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Any thoughts on physics first vs the traditional sequence in regards to transcripts? I have been planning to use the Novare advanced track sequence, but I do have some concerns about how that will look on a transcript.

[Jen (formerly) in Japan]

Re: Year end Algebra I grade rubric?

Any thoughts on physics first vs the traditional sequence in regards to transcripts? I have been planning to use the Novare advanced track sequence, but I do have some concerns about how that will look on a transcript.

Hi Jennifer,

Physics first (non calculus) is actually becoming "Regular track 9th" in place of physical science. I taught in a DoD high school three years ago, and that was the choice for 9th graders: Physics Applications or Biology. Just transcript it as your child's 9th grade science class. The college admissions officers will understand immediately in the context of the rest of your child's science coursework what it is.

I sort of hope Cindy will reply on this topic. It probably should have been its own post.



Jen