Humble ISD Adjusts High School Grading Procedures For Fall Semester
High School courses will have summative tests, not finals, due to COVID adjustments
Humble ISD is adjusting its high school grading procedures for the fall 2020 semester due to the impact of COVID-19 and students’ varying circumstances and learning environments.
Instead of taking final exams that count as 20 percent of the semester average in each course, students in high school courses will take summative tests during the week of December 14-18, 2020, that allow students an opportunity to improve their grade in each course. The summative grade that students earn will replace the student’s lowest summative grade in the second nine weeks.
“We believe that teachers, students, and families will benefit from these procedures because students’ grades can only improve in this situation. It provides flexibility for students and families who have made many adjustments due to COVID-19. Students will not have to take a high-stakes final exam with a major impact on their semester grade,” Trey Kraemer, Assistant Superintendent for High Schools, said. “Students will have the opportunity to improve their second nine-weeks’ average. The score on this test will replace the lowest summative grade the student earned during the second nine-weeks grading period”.
The semester grade will be the average of the first nine-weeks grade and the second nine-weeks grade. Semester grades are recorded on the report card and transcript and used to determine class rank.
Teachers will have flexibility in the type of assessment they offer. High schools will adjust their bell schedule during the last week of the semester for the summative tests. High schools will have early release on Thursday, December 17, and Friday, December 18, as shown on the 2020-2021 calendar.
Exam exemptions will not be a factor this semester because there will not be semester exams. If a student does not take the last summative and receives a 0, the 0 can be dropped as the lowest summative grade.
The grading procedures only affect Humble ISD high school credit courses. Students enrolled in college credit courses will adhere to the grading procedures of Lone Star College or the University of Texas OnRamps.
“For now, we plan to have spring semester exams, and we will reevaluate as needed throughout the spring semester,” Mr. Kraemer said.
As always, please reach out to your child’s teacher or counselor if you have questions about your child’s academic progress.
Example of Grading Procedure Change:
2019 Fall Semester Grading Procedure
First Nine Weeks Grade: 86; Second Nine Weeks Grade: 94
Nine Weeks Average: 86 + 94 = 180/2 = 90, Final Exam: 80
Semester Grade is 80 percent of the Nine Weeks’ Average plus 20 percent of Final Exam
80 percent of Nine Weeks Average Grade: 90 X .80 = 72
20 percent of Final Exam: 80 X .20 = 16
Semester Grade: 72 + 16 = 88
2020 Fall Semester Grading Procedure (No Final Exam)
First Nine Weeks Grade: 86, Second Nine Weeks Grade: 94*
Nine Weeks Average: 86 + 94 = 180/2 = 90
Semester Grade: 90
*Lowest summative grade in the second nine weeks will be dropped from the nine-week average.
