Grading at Cresthill

At Cresthill Middle School, we use Standards-Based Grading (SBG) to help students and families understand what students know, what they can do and how they are progressing over time.

Understanding Standards-Based Grading

Rather than focusing solely on points or percentages, standards-based grading measures student learning in relation to the Colorado Academic Standards. Most student work, including assignments, quizzes, daily work and assessments, is evaluated using a 4, 3, 2 or 1. These scores are not intended to be averaged like traditional points or percentages. Instead, they communicate a student's current level of understanding or mastery of a particular skill or standard. The goal is to focus on learning and growth over time, rather than simply accumulating points.

View the Colorado Academic Standards

Understanding Grades in Infinite Campus

Infinite Campus is Cresthill's primary tool for communicating student progress.

Families will see two areas of student performance:

1. Content Knowledge

Content Knowledge reflects a student's academic understanding and progress toward grade-level standards.

2. Work Habits

Work Habits reflect the skills and behaviors students use to support their learning and success as students. When reviewing grades in Infinite Campus, families should focus primarily on:

Individual assignment scores
Patterns of growth over time
The student's In Progress grade

You may also see Points, Possible and Percent displayed in Infinite Campus. These numbers are part of how the system calculates and displays information, but they should not be used on their own to determine how well a student is performing.

An In Progress grade is also just that: a snapshot of where a student is at that moment. It can be useful for reflection and conversation, but it does not tell the entire story of a student's learning.

Infinite Campus Video Walkthrough

Want to see what this looks like in Infinite Campus?

Watch our video walkthrough to learn more about reading and understanding your student's grades.

Please note: The video's reference to Journey Learning is no longer current. All other information remains applicable.

What Will My Student Learn?

Advanced and Accelerated Courses

Advanced English Language Arts

Advanced ELA courses provide greater depth, complexity and rigor while remaining aligned with the standards for the student's current grade level.For example, a seventh-grade student enrolled in Advanced ELA is not simply completing the eighth-grade ELA curriculum. Students continue working with seventh-grade standards while engaging in more complex analysis, discussion, writing and independent novel study.

Accelerated Mathematics

Accelerated math courses operate differently. Students in accelerated math may work with next-grade-level content and expectations as part of the accelerated curriculum.

English Language Arts & StudySync

Questions?

Questions about Standards-Based Grading or the Infinite Campus gradebook? Please contact Mr. Wakefield at mdwakefield@dcsdk12.org.

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