Understanding your marking period II IB report card

Dear JEMS families,

This is a guide to reading the Marking Period II Report Card. Please read below to learn more about the information in the report.

What are the 0-8 scores?
Achievement is reported for each IB course in four core areas, called criteria. These are represented by the letters A, B, C, and D on the report. Criteria scores range from 0-8, including an “NA” for “no attempt.” The following achievement scale describes each score. Levels 5 and 6 indicate that a student is typically achieving grade level expectations. Level 8 is the highest level of performance.
 

Levels of achievement in a criterion
8	produces highly sophisticated work that exceeds expectations	3	produces work that is sometimes emerging in understanding
7	produces sophisticated work	2	work is basic in quality
6	produces good work that demonstrates expectations	1	producing work that shows limited understanding
5	produces good work that usually demonstrates expectations	0	work does not meet any expectations
4	produces work that is emerging in understanding	NA	no attempt was made to complete the work

Are grades averaged in IB classes?
No. The scores do not reflect an average. The score refers to a level of achievement. For example, a criterion score of 4 out of 8 does not mean the student scored a 50%. The 4 refers to a specific description of a student's ability in that criterion. In this case, a 4 means a student’s understanding and skill level is emerging. (Refer to the chart above.)

What does the “NA” mean on the report?
If an “NA” appears as a criterion score, this indicates that the student made no attempt to complete the assigned work. Because the scores reflect a student’s skill and ability in each criterion, a teacher is unable to assign a score of 0-8 because there was no work to evaluate. If a student earns an “NA” in marking period II and beyond, he or she will be provided with structured support.

Why are some classes graded out of 100?
Any courses that are not a part of the IB programme will still be graded traditionally out of 100%. These classes include Living environment, Algebra, and Health. Language acquisition (Spanish) appears on the report card twice because NYS requires schools to report a score out of 100. We report an IB score and a traditional score to meet state requirements.

How will honor roll be calculated?
Honor roll and high honor roll are awarded at midyear and end of year. Honor roll is earned by scoring an average final score of 5.5-5.9 in all IB courses, and an average marking period grade of 85-89.4% in non-IB classes. High honor roll is earned by scoring an average final score of 6.0-7.0 in all IB courses, and an average marking period score of 89.5-100%% in non-IB classes. Honor roll certificates will be awarded to students soon after the report card has been issued.

What is the final score?
Students earn a final score of 1-7 in each IB course. This score represents a student’s overall achievement level at the time of the report. The final score is calculated by adding the four criteria scores (A+B+C+D) and placing the sum on a scale of 1-7. This scale and the descriptions of each score are prescribed by the IB in the chart found on the back of this letter.

Note: A score of 1 or 2 is considered not meeting the requirements of the course. A final score cannot be calculated if an NA is earned in a criteria.

Criteria Sum A+B+C+D	Final Score	Description of score *This is a holistic interpretation of the student’s achievement at the time of the report. These descriptors are published by the IB and are common among all IB schools who report IB grades.
28-32	7	Produces high-quality, frequently innovative work. Communicates comprehensive, nuanced understanding of concepts and contexts. Consistently demonstrates sophisticated critical and creative thinking. Frequently transfers knowledge and skills with independence and expertise in a variety of complex classroom and real-world situations.
24-27	6	Produces high-quality, occasionally innovative work. Communicates extensive understanding of concepts and contexts. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking, frequently with sophistication. Uses knowledge and skills in familiar and unfamiliar classroom and real- world situations, often with independence.
19-23	5	Produces generally high-quality work. Communicates secure understanding of concepts and contexts. Demonstrates critical and creative thinking, sometimes with sophistication. Uses knowledge and skills in familiar classroom and real-world situations and, with support, some unfamiliar real-world situations.
15-18	4	Produces good-quality work. Communicates basic understanding of most concepts and contexts with few misunderstandings and minor gaps. Often demonstrates basic critical and creative thinking. Uses knowledge and skills with some flexibility in familiar classroom situations, but requires support in unfamiliar situations.
10-14	3	Produces work of an acceptable quality. Communicates basic understanding of many concepts and contexts, with occasionally significant misunderstandings or gaps. Begins to demonstrate some basic critical and creative thinking. Is often inflexible in the use of knowledge and skills, requiring support even in familiar classroom situations.
6-9	2	Produces work of limited quality. Expresses misunderstandings or significant gaps in understanding for many concepts and contexts. Infrequently demonstrates critical or creative thinking. Generally inflexible in the use of knowledge and skills, infrequently applying knowledge and skills.
1-5	1	Produces work of very limited quality. Conveys many significant misunderstandings or lacks understanding of most concepts and contexts. Very rarely demonstrates critical or creative thinking. Very inflexible, rarely using knowledge or skills.

You can find a video with further explanation below, or you can download a version by clicking here.