Grading, UIL & Exams

Grading Procedures

Please also refer to the information in Melissa ISD Board Policy EIA (Local) and EIA (Legal).

Grading Policies

The school year is comprised of two semesters, each consisting of approximately 90 days.
A student will earn credit for a course only if the final grade is 70 percent (70%) or higher. For a two-semester (1 credit) course, the student’s grades from both semesters will be averaged and credit will be awarded if the combined average is 70 percent (70%) or higher. Should the student’s combined average be less than 70 percent (70%), the student will be required to retake the semester in which he or she failed.
According to state law, students must attend 90 percent (90%) of the days a class is offered in order to receive credit for the course.
Parents and students are encouraged to become familiar with the Home Access Center (HAC).
Updated progress reports will be available every three weeks in the HAC. Report cards are published at nine-week intervals. Paper copies are available upon request.

Grading Practices

Grades in all subject areas will be defined by two categories of assignments: daily and major.
Please refer to the GRADING CHART FOR DAILY & MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS to understand how daily and major grades are calculated based on the course type.
To ensure that grading reflects a student’s relative mastery of an assignment, the following practice has been established: teachers will input a minimum of one (1) daily grade per week and one (1) major grade per three weeks.

Grading Chart for Daily & Major Assignments

Make-up Work

Students absent from class will have one day to make up the work for each day missed. Exceptions may occur if due dates were established prior to student absence.

Late Work

Grades will be assigned as follows for students who were present in class but did not turn in an assignment on time.

Daily Assignments: A grade of zero (0) shall be recorded and detention or mandatory tutorial shall be assigned.
Major Assignments: One (1) day late will result in a maximum grade of 70 percent (70%), and minus 10 additional points for each day after.

Retest Guidelines

Test corrections are not an adequate indicator of mastery learning. Instead, test corrections would be an expected component of tutorial preparation for the retesting opportunity. Test corrections will not be used to raise the student’s score on the assessment.
For any retests, the grade will only be used if it is higher than the original grade earned on the assignment. The highest possible grade on any retest assignment will be a 70 percent (70%).
Although criteria has been established limiting the number of allowable retests throughout the school year for Tier II (advanced) classes, there will be multiple opportunities for students to learn the content and achieve mastery in all classes.
Students who are absent will follow the student absence guidelines for making up assignments.
If the original assessment was given the last week of the grading period and a reasonable opportunity to retake is not available, the grade shall be taken for the next marking period.
Semester exams will not be allowed to be retaken regardless of the grade received.
Each teacher will offer tutorials on a regular basis for students who need extra help.

Retests in Electives & Weighted Courses

Tier I Courses & All Electives:

Students shall be allowed to retest any major grade for a grade up to 70 percent (70%) in which they have initially failed by completing the following guidelines/steps:

Schedule and attend one mandatory tutorial with the teacher within one week of receiving the grade.
Schedule a time with the teacher to retest.

Tier II Courses: (not including dual credit courses which have their own requirements)

Students shall be allowed to retake a test in which they have initially failed for a grade up to 70 percent (70%) only the amount of time(s) listed below according to the student’s grade level by completing the following guidelines/steps:

Schedule and attend one (1) mandatory tutorial with the teacher within one week of receiving the grade.
Schedule a time with the teacher to retest.

9th Grade: one (1) retest per quarter

10th Grade: one (1) retest per semester

11th Grade: one (1) retest per semester

12th Grade: one (1) retest per semester

UIL Eligibility

Most activities involving interscholastic competitions are governed by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). In order to participate in UIL activities, students must maintain grades of 70 percent (70%) or higher in all academic courses and grades of 60 percent (60%) or higher in all advanced courses. Grades in dual credit courses do not affect UIL eligibility. In addition, sponsors of individual programs may set requirements for participation above and beyond the campus-wide standards. UIL participants should be aware of the following requirements and policies.

UIL Side-by-Side

Note: The information in the UIL Side-by-Side supersedes the information in this Academic Planning Guide.

Grading Requirements for UIL Participation

Eligibility requirements for the first six (6) weeks of each academic year's credits are determined by state graduation requirements. Students in grades 9-12 may participate in extracurricular activities at the beginning of the school year if the grade-specific eligibility criteria below are met:
- - Entering 9th Grade: Has been academically promoted to 9th grade.
  - Entering 10th Grade: Has earned five (5) credits toward state graduation requirements.
  - Entering 11th Grade: Has earned 10 credits or a total of five (5) credits the last 12 months, toward state graduation requirements.
  - Entering 12th Grade: Has earned 15 credits or a total of five (5) credits the last 12 months, toward state graduation requirements.
UIL eligibility is based on semesters of participation, not years in high school.
Students are evaluated every three (3) weeks for UIL eligibility status. Loss of eligibility occurs at the end of the first six-week progress report and, thereafter, only at the end of the nine-week grading period. In order to regain eligibility, all students must be passing all courses.
All students are academically eligible during a school holiday period consisting of at least seven (7) consecutive calendar days (i.e. Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, and Spring Break).
The grace period for eligibility is seven (7) calendar days after evaluation, with the exception of school holidays.
Students will lose their eligibility to participate in any extracurricular activities sponsored or sanctioned by the district or the UIL if, after a grade-evaluation period, the student receives a grade below 70 percent (70%) in any academic class other than an identified advanced course.

Ineligible to Participate

A student shall be suspended from participation in any extracurricular activity sponsored or sanctioned by the district or the UIL after a grade evaluation period in which the student received a grade lower than 70 percent (70%) in any academic class other than the following designated dual credit courses (all of which are exempt from “No Pass, No Play”):

- - English: English: English Composition/Rhetoric (ENGL 1301 and ENGL 1302)
  - Math: College Algebra (MATH 1314), Pre-Calculus (MATH 2412), Calculus (MATH 2413), Elementary Statistical Methods (MATH 1342)
  - Science: Environmental Science (ENVR 1401 and 1402)
  - Social Studies: US History (HIST 1301 and HIST 1302), Principles of Macroeconomics (ECON 2301), American Government (GOVT 2305)

A student shall be suspended from participation in any extracurricular activity sponsored or sanctioned by the district or the UIL after a grade evaluation period in which the student received a grade lower than 60 percent (60%) in the following advanced courses:

- - English: Advanced English I, II, III & IV
  - Math: Advanced Algebra I, Advanced Geometry, Advanced Algebra II, Advanced Pre-Calculus
  - Science: Advanced Biology, Advanced Chemistry, Advanced Physics, Advanced Anatomy & Physiology
  - Social Studies: Advanced World Geography, Advanced World History
  - Spanish: Advanced Spanish II, Advanced Spanish III, Advanced Spanish IV

Semester Exams

Spring Semester Exam Exemptions

Spring semester exams will be taken the last week of the school year. Students may earn exemptions from spring semester exams for one-credit courses under certain conditions.

Spring semester exam exemptions do not apply to dual credit courses and are limited in number.
Fall semester exams require all students to participate; no exemptions will be granted.

Exemption Criteria

Students may qualify for spring semester exam exemptions if they meet the all of the criteria below:

must be a one-credit course;
must have a second semester average of 85 percent (85%) or higher;
must have no more than three (3) absences total for the second semester, marked as one of the following: Excused (A), Unexcused (U), or Parent Note (W);
must not have placements in ISS, OSS, or DAEP for the second semester;
must have all fines cleared by the school and your teacher, or program sponsor (i.e. library, cafeteria, athletics, clubs, textbook, calculators, etc.); and
must complete the exemption request form for the course and have the form signed by your teacher and parent.

Number of Possible Exemptions

9th Grade: up to one (1) exemption
10th Grade: up to two (2) exemptions
11th Grade: up to three (3) exemptions
12th Grade: up to four (4) exemptions

Home Access Center (HAC)

Accessing Grades in the HAC

Using the Home Access Center (HAC), Melissa ISD parents and guardians can monitor their students' grades, daily attendance, and course information. If your student is new to Melissa ISD and/or you have not ever logged in to the HAC, please contact the campus registrar for assistance.

The HAC allows you to:

view your student’s grades, daily attendance, and course information online,
control the alerts you receive regarding your students grades and daily attendance, and
complete the student registration process online.

Your student’s grades, daily attendance, and registration information can be viewed and managed in the HAC, either in your web browser or by downloading the mobile app. Additional information and guidance can be accessed online at WWW.MELISSAISD.ORG/HAC.

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