Assignment Policies
Asynchronous courses are designed to give students flexibility while still guiding them through the course in the proper order. Assignments are available throughout the school year, and due dates are provided as pacing guides. There is no grade penalty for submitting work after a due date; however, students are expected to complete lessons and assignments in the order they appear in the course.
Students should not skip ahead to later assignments without completing the preparatory work first. Practice Assignments are especially important because they help prepare students for required Checks for Understanding, Major Assignments, and semester exams.
Gradebook Categories and Assignment Types
Asynchronous course assignments are grouped into three general categories: Major Assignments, Checks for Understanding, and Practice Assignments.
Major Assignments and Checks for Understanding are required for course completion and the Asynchronous Course transcript designation (A). Practice Assignments are intended to prepare students for mastery and students may optionally choose to be exempted from them if they move ahead in the course.
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Major Assignments (MA) – Major Assignments include tests, exams, papers, labs, or other major projects and are required for credit.
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Check for Understanding (CFU) - Check for Understanding assignments are designed to assess the student's mastery of the material and are required to be submitted to receive credit. These assignments most often include weekly checks, recitations, as well as a few others depending on the course.
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Practice Assignment (PA) - Practice Assignments are designed to give practice opportunities to students as they move throughout the course and are generally graded on completion. Once a student has moved onto subsequent material, PAs skipped by the student will be exempted by the teacher and not factored into the grade. Some Practice Assignments include answer keys for students to self-grade. Assignments that include answer keys must be self-graded in order to receive a completion grade from the teacher.
|
Assignment Summary |
Purpose |
Required? |
What happens if skipped? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Major Assignment (MA) |
Tests, exams, papers, labs, projects |
Yes |
Marked Missing and counted as zero until submitted |
|
Check for Understanding (CFU) |
Weekly checks, recitations, brief mastery checks |
Yes |
Marked Missing and counted as zero until submitted |
|
Practice Assignment (PA) |
Practice and preparation |
Not required for credit. |
Will be marked Exempt once student moves ahead |
Course Pacing and Order
Students are expected to complete coursework in the order it is laid out in the course. It can be tempting for students to rush ahead to the “required” work of the week, but Practice Assignments are especially important for preparing students for any Checks for Understanding or Major Assignments that follow.
Because asynchronous courses make future weeks visible, parents are asked to monitor student pacing, especially at the beginning of the course. Once a good pattern has been established, parents may determine when the student is ready for more independence in moving ahead.
Parents are encouraged to monitor the gradebook and Overdue feed regularly, especially during the first few weeks of the course, to make sure students are completing lessons and assignments in order.
Weekly Check Assignments
Weekly Check assignments are open-book and open-note, but should only use Kolbe provided texts and materials. Students are encouraged to use their text when they come across a question they are unsure of, as this helps them learn the material. Parents should pay close attention to student scores on weekly checks. If a student receives a low score, parents may want to assess how much time was spent on the assignment and whether the student completed all preparatory work before attempting it. Students have one attempt on each weekly check.
Recitation Assignments
Recitation assignments ask students to submit a video response reciting something they have written, learned, or memorized. Recitations may ask the student to submit a thesis statement, describe or demonstrate a process, or to respond with a few sentences. Most of the recitations will require preparation in the form of writing ahead of time. Students may choose to re-record as needed. A rubric is provided to help guide students on how each will be evaluated.
Due Date Policies and Gradebook Flags
Assignments have due dates to help pace students through the course in order. Due dates are pacing guides, and there is no grade penalty for submitting an assignment after the due date. To encourage students to proceed through the course in the intended order, the following gradebook flags may be used during the course:
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Missing Flag: Required Major Assignments (MA) and Checks for Understanding (CFU) will be marked Missing if a student skips them and moves ahead to later coursework. The Missing flag is used as an alert, not as a late penalty. It helps keep required work visible to the student and parent.
When an assignment is marked Missing, Schoology temporarily assigns a zero to reflect the missing work in the gradebook and keep it in the student’s Overdue feed. Students can submit the assignment without penalty until the semester ends. Once graded, the zero is replaced with the earned grade.
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Exempt: Practice Assignments may be marked Exempt if a student skips them and moves ahead in the course. Exempt assignments do not affect the student’s grade and no longer appear in the Overdue feed. Once a Practice Assignment is exempted, it may not be submitted for credit.
If the student will be working significantly ahead of or behind the suggested due dates, please communicate with the teacher so that he or she is aware of the student’s pacing plan.
Semester Exams and Final Semester Grades
Every asynchronous course has an end-of-semester exam. Some exams are cumulative, while others serve as the final test for the semester, depending on the course.
Students should not begin the semester exam until all Major Assignments (MA) and Checks for Understanding (CFU) for that semester have been completed. Taking the semester exam communicates to the teacher that the student has completed all work he or she intends to submit for that semester.
Once the semester exam is submitted, the teacher will finalize the semester grade. Any incomplete Major Assignments or Checks for Understanding will be factored into the grade as a zero. Practice Assignments that were not completed will be excused and no longer factor into the grade.