MEMO

____________________________________________________________
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:

Tuesday, March 24, 2020
High School Teachers, Counselors, and School Leaders
Andre Wright, Chief Academic Officer
Remote Learning Plan and Grades

Given the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we are in uncharted territory as we plan for ways to ensure our high schools
students remain on track to graduate within the given circumstances. We want to address two matters in this memo:
1) Structure for Learning
2) Grading Guidelines

Structure for Learning​:
9th-10th Grade
English, Science,
Social Studies, Math,
CLDE and Sheltered
Students will complete
Edgenuity courses
aligned to their
scheduled classes.

11th & 12th Grade English,
Science, Social Studies,
Math, CLDE and Sheltered
Students will do one of the
following:
On track students​:
● will complete a
universal districtperformance task for
their respective content
area (Note: there is
both a weighted and
non-weighted version)
Off track students​:
● will complete Edgenuity
IF there is a course
match in Edgenuity
If there is NOT a course match
in Edgenuity students:
● will complete a
universal
district-developed
performance task for
their respective content
area. (Note: there is
both a weighted and
non-weighted version)

9th-12th Grade Electives

Concurrent
Enrollment

Students will complete a
universal performance
task. These tasks will be
made available in the
following areas:
● Art
● Music
● Physical Education
● Theatre
● World Language

Students will engage
in virtual learning
experiences with their
concurrent enrollment
teachers via Google
Classroom and other
Google integrated
solutions using their
existing course
syllabi.

Additionally, there will be a
“General” performance
task made available for all
other areas not included in
the list above.

 Important Notes
Above & Beyond
Teachers may go above and beyond to provide additional learning experiences to students; however, teachers
must do the following:
● Only adhere to the ​minimum requirement​ from the district when ​assigning a grade ​to a student.
○ For example, if a student is taking Edgenuity, there should only be a grade based on Edgenuity,
not on any additional opportunities the teacher creates for the student.
● Not penalize a student​ for not participating in any extended learning opportunities
● Make any extended learning opportunities ​optional
Exceptional Student Services Students
The ​ESS Remote Learning Plan​ can be found here for our students on IEPs.
English Language Learners
For students at English language proficiency levels 1-3 we advocate that their English Language Development
(ELD) course be offered through google classroom and follow the teacher expectations for the “Responsibilities”
listed on the “Performance Task” groups on the APS remote learning site. Note: there is not a course offering for
dedicated ELD in Edgenuity. ​Here ​is additional guidance to support secondary ELD teachers and ELD Lit 1
teachers. For multilingual learners at higher proficiency levels who take English/ELD, we would recommend that
this course be offered through Edgenuity as part of their grade level literacy course work with the addition of
language supports as needed.
High school CLDE Teacher Leaders, please work in cooperation with your consultant and ELD team to create the
google classroom course(s).

Grading Guidelines:
Part of our consideration around how to effectively support our students is a review of our district policy IKA-R which
addresses grading.
We in no way want our students to be penalized for these circumstances that are beyond their control. We are
suggesting the following guidelines for grading students:
●

●
●

Edgenuity (APS Emergency Remote Plan Only- NOT traditional Credit recovery Edgenuity)
○ 100%-90% - A
○ 89%-80% - B
○ 79%-70% - C
○ 69%-60% - D
○ 59% or below - AU (Audit)
Performance Task
○ A, B, C, D, AU in alignment to the scoring criteria on the grading rubrics
Concurrent Enrollment
○ Following traditional grading guidelines

Guidelines
Students shall NOT earn a grade lower than the grade they earned in 3rd quarter so as not to incur any “harm” as a
result of the current situation.
For example, if a student earned a “C” 3rd quarter, and completes Edgenuity with an “D”, their grade will
automatically roll to a “C”.
Grades will automatically roll from 3rd quarter to 4th quarter. The only instance where a grade will be changed is if:
1) The student earned a grade higher
For example, the student earned a “C” in 3rd quarter and then went on to earn a “B” in 4th quarter. The
student would then have a grade of “B” entered for 4th quarter.

 2) The student never participated in the course, which would result in an AU - Audit. This ensures that students
will not have any negative penalty to their GPA.
Academic Integrity Policy (Please Read)
This will be posted to the Remote Learning website and in Google Classrooms.
Extra Credit
Extra credit should NOT be used in this scenario. All grades earned should be based on the grade earned in
Edgenuity, the grade earned from the rubrics for the performance tasks, or the grade earned from scored work in
the virtual space (Concurrent Enrollment Only).
If you have questions, please contact any of the following:
Your School’s Leader
Biaze Houston​, Director, Assessment
Dave West​, Coordinator, School Counselors
Instructional Coordinators​ for your respective content.