I have had numerous discussions with colleagues about how to choose a grading system. There is a ton of research about different types of grading systems (example: 0-4, ZAP (no zeroes allowed), Points system, etc.) and I feel that each of these are useful for different grade levels.
As a middle level teacher, it is my opinion that is is not fair to make Tests and Quizzes account for the large majority of the grade. This is because middle level students are still learning proper study skills and these are skills that take an extremely long time to develop.
I think that homework is extremely important and I have allotted 20% of the students grade for homework. I think that if students complete their homework assignments they are forced to review their notes every day and it teaches them to be more responsible.
I have allotted 50% total for Tests and Quizzes. Tests count for 30% and Quizzes for 20%.
I give my students a participation grade each week. This will count for 10% of each quarter grade.
Lab activities count for the additional 30% of the grade.
I have found that this grading scheme has been very successful for me. I have several students who participate all of the time, hand in all homework assignments and complete all lab activities but have problems doing well on tests and quizzes. This grading scheme enables these students to be very successful in my class and work on ways to improve their study skills without fearing that they will do poorly if they do not perform well on every exam.
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