Homework

Academic Information

The State has mandated that all 3rd grade students must be proficient (TCAP) in reading before being promoted to 4th grade.

ACADEMIC INFORMATION

GRADE SCALE:

Letter GradeNumerical Grade
A90-100
B80-89
C70-79
D60-69
F59-Below

HOMEWORK POLICY The faculty of RHMS recognizes that student’s lives after school are a made up of important activities such as quality family time, recreation, rest and relaxation, and extracurricular activities both associated with school and not so associated. The purpose of this policy is to provide some measurable guidelines on how RHMS will support the above recognition.

PURPOSES OF HOMEWORK The faculty recognizes that homework is beneficial when it:

  1. Reinforces previously learned materials  and processes,
  2. Prepares students for the next day’s activities (e.g. reading a chapter from book in preparation for discussion the next day),
  3. Is necessary for the memorization of certain basic concepts (e.g., vocabulary, math facts, etc.),
  4. Prepares student to organize and complete complex, long-term assignments (e.g., history, research papers, complex art creations, science fair projects, etc.),
  5. Develops independent study skills and thus prepares students for higher education as well life and/or,
  6. Gives parents the opportunity to understand the level at which a student is working.

INAPPROPRIATE USE OF HOMEWORK The faculty believes that homework is not appropriate method to:

  1. Introduce  new concepts
  2. Punish with busy work
  3. Assign long-term projects without properly instructing in both the process and content of said assignment.

PLANNING TIMES FOR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

The faculty recognizes that students work at different rates and directs that teachers aim their homework assignments to require no more than the below stated times on an average basis.

* Cluster leaders are responsible for the coordination of homework given among their group of teachers. For example, if the English teacher gives an unusually long homework reading assignment, the other teachers in the group must be notified so as to be able to adjust their assignments.

OTHER HOMEWORK GUIDANCE

  1. For the elementary school (K-5), if homework is given, It is not be assigned on holidays or breaks, nor on weekends unless it is makeup work or supplemental work (work assigned at the parent’s request).
  2. For the middle school/high school (6-12), if  homework is given, it is not to be assigned on holidays, breaks or weekends except for long-term assignments and then only if  the students are given an alternative time to do it on regular homework nights and/or choose to  do a long- term assignment themselves during the holidays, breaks or weekends.
  3. Projects (those taking longer than two weeks to complete) are not to be assigned at a rate of no more than one per quarter. For students having multiple teachers (cluster groups), cluster leaders need to organize a scheduling meeting to ensure no overlap. These instructions do not, of course, cover voluntary projects or activities  taken on by a student.
  4. Projects that might require significant parent contribution in terms of time, money or    other resources are to be agreed upon with the parents. For example, if a student decides to attempt an elaborate science fair project costing, in the teachers estimate, hundreds of dollars, the teacher needs to get parent approval for the student to attempt that project. Projects should be age appropriate and tied to the Tennessee State Curriculum   Standards. Teachers may offer more challenging projects for advanced students but only with the consent of the parents.
  5. Any  student  who completes homework will receive a grade or credit for the homework completed on a pro rata basis. For example, if a student completes 95% of the work on a project correctly, then only 5% should be deducted from the grade. No student should receive a “zero” because 5% of the work was not completed.
  6. No student is ever to be addressed in public if a parent sends a note explaining why work has not been completed. That should always be taken up in private. Our goal must always be to encourage student respect for the position of parent and for the team of parent and teacher.
  7. Supplemental Homework. Supplemental homework is defined as additional homework given that is optional. This homework will receive credit just as regular homework. For example, if the regular assignment for a certain math class is to do 20 problems (odd­ numbered problems on page 381) for homework, the teacher may also suggest a supplementary assignment of another 20 problems (even-numbered problems on page 381). If the parent elects for the child to do the additional work, the teacher will give credit for the extra problems completed. The purpose of this is to provide the parent an opportunity to give their child extra practice when the parent recognizes the need.

Honors: Each year a student will be awarded academic certificates of achievement for high levels of academic performance. Students must have taken at least four core subjects in high school for the entire school year.

Principal’s List – 90  or above in all subjects/classes
A Honor Roll – 90 or above as an average of all subjects/classes with no  C’s or below
A-B Honor Roll – 80-89 or above as an average of all subjects/classes with no C’s or below

State Mandated Testing (End-of-Course [EOC]).

The State of Tennessee has mandated that one type of test be given after the completion of certain high school courses.

End-of-Course Tests. These tests are required to be taken by a student at the end of the year in which the course is taken. For instance, in the year a student takes US History, he/she is required to take the US History end of course test. Currently the courses requiring these tests are US History, English I, English II, Algebra I, Algebra II, Biology I, and Chemistry. The EOC counts as 15% of the final grade if those scores are returned from the state at least 5 instructional days before the end of the course.

TCAP Tests
These tests are required to be taken by a student at the end of the year.

For Grades 6th, 7th, and 8th the TCAP score counts as 10% of the final grade. As long as the scores are returned to the school, at least 5 instructional days before the end of course.

Retention of Students

  • Students can be retained for excessive absences (18+ days excused or unexcused), or for failing grades. While we do not want to retain students, it is sometimes necessary to keep a student back a grade to insure that they will be successful later. Students in K-12 will be retained based on attendance, grades and on teacher or parent’s recommendation.
  • Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, a student in the third grade shall not be promoted to the next grade level unless the student is determined to be proficient in English language arts (ELA) based on the student’s achieving a performance level rating of “on track” or “mastered” on the ELA portion of the student’s most recent Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) test. Tenn. Code § 49-6-3115

*Committee (Principal/Teacher/Attendance Supervisor) may retain a student in grades K-12 for attendance if they miss (18+ days excused or unexcused) or if they fail 2 or more of their academic subjects.*

Requirements for grade promotion/placement:
To pass from 9th to 10th —-5 credits total
To pass from 10th to 11th —11 credits total
To pass from 11th to 12th —- 16 credits total
A student must have a total of 22 academic credits that are listed on the following page in order to graduate.

***Please note that TSSAA has grade standards that are required for students to participate in high school sports. These standards differ from the RHMS promotion to the next grade standards. TSSAA requires that students earn the five (5) credits the previous year in order to qualify for playing sports.

ONLINE CLASSES

Please refer to the school board policy 4.209 pertaining to the qualifications of online and correspondence courses.