Advanced Placement Physics 1 Parent


Grading Procedures


Grading will be done on a percentage system with each graded assignment providing a specific number of points towards each category. A 65 % minimum average is needed to pass. Your grade will be comprised of:
  • 75% Tests / Quizzes / Chapter outlines
  • 10% Labs / Lab Quizzes
  • 15% WebAssign / Homework / Class Assignments
Assignments may include: Tests / Quizzes (Announced and Unannounced) 3 or 4 test per quarter

  • comprised of Problems, Concepts, Interpretation of lab, Understanding of relationships of equations
  • I reserve the right to deny credit if data tables, equations, plugged in data, and a final answer with units is not shown.
  • Student may earn up to 30% of the points they miss on their test back by completing a test correction procedure that will be outline in the class.
  • All tests must be completed in the time provided. No extra time will be given unless previous permission has been granted.
  • If you are absent the day before a test and new information is presented for the test you are given 1 day to make up the test. If you are absent the day before a test and no new information is presented, you are still required to take the test.
  • If absent it must be made up promptly upon return or you will receive a zero. This means you may need to come during a study, lunch, before, or after school. It is your responsibility to schedule your makeup with Dr. Croom between 7:25 and 7:40 on the day you would like to make up the test.
  • Repeated absences on the day of tests may lead to the following consequences:
    • Forfeit of extra credit opportunities
    • You may be also given another version of the test where a given problem written in multiple choice format is replaced by an open-ended problem, where all work must be shown - the replacement problem may or may not be equivalent in complexity
    • students being required to make up the test at the end of the quarter. During the last two weeks of the quarter, the instructor will open a window for make ups to take place. It is the responsibility of the student to find a time within this window to come and make up the test. If the student does not find a time to come and take it, they will have to take it during the class period.

  • Labs Formal labs must be typed and must follow lab report format.
    • There will be a deduction of points for every day late
    • After 3 days the lab becomes a ZERO
    • Notebooking Labs (Informal Labs) will also be performed and will weighted appropriately compared to Formal Labs.
    • Lab Notebooks will not leave the classroom unless previous permission is given.
    • Lab Notebooks will be checked approximately every 2 weeks.

    Reading Assignments
    • Students will outline the new chapter. The outline off the chapter using the format taught in class will be handed in at the end of class 2 days after the previous chapters test.
    • No extra time will be given unless previous permission has been granted.
    • A quiz on the reading may be given as a spot check. In this case the student’s notes can be used to answer the questions.

    Spot,Homework, and Announced Quizzes
    • Being absent the day before a quiz does not provide exception from the quiz. Email your instructor, call a friend, read your chapter, practice your problems, determine what you missed.
    • All quizzes must be completed in the time provided. No extra time will be given unless previous permission has been granted.

    Homework / WebAssign
    • Homework assignments may or may not be graded. Students are expected to always come to class with their homework complete.
    • Late homework WILL NOT be accepted
    • It is the student’s responsibility to complete their WebAssign problems by the beginning of the class in which it is due.
    • Partial completed homework will be considered incomplete
    Example of a full credit homework problem:

    Problem:          A car goes from 5m/s to 25m/s in 3s,
                            what is the acceleration of the car?

    example problem
    Class Participation
    • Will be considered for borderline grades
    • Students who miss more than 4 days of class total after the first quarter, 6 days total after the second quarter, 8 days after the third quarter, and 10 days after the fourth quarter will not be eligible for participation recognition

    Extra Credit
    • Extra Credit if assigned will be given to the entire class. Extra credit assignments are not to be worked on in class and will be required to be handed in on the given day. No partial credit is given for extra credit.
    • Some tests may have extra credit on them. Extra credit on a test can vary from extra reading assignment, recent news events, problems, or opinion statements.

    End of year research Paper
    • Research papers will involve the research of physics topics and the creation of a presentation to demonstrate the learned concepts. Research papers will be graded like a test.

    End of year presentations
    • Presentations will be graded according to a rubric handed-out before the beginning of the project. All areas discussed int he rubric need to be covered

    Final Exam
    • There will be a final exam in this class the week before the AP exam for the entire class. The final exam will be based on the information required for the AP Physics 1 exam

    • Unprepared for Class
      • Students coming to class unprepared based on the rules above will lose up to 5 points from their test point total for each occurrence.

      Absenteeism and Grades
      • Being in class on a regular basis is important. Many activities we do are not graded but are still part of the content you need to learn.
      • If a student misses over 15 days of class during the year, the student may begin to see a reduction in their quarter class grade by 1 point for each additional day they miss.
      • Any assignment you miss because of absence is your responsibility to make up. If after a week the assignment is still outstanding, it becomes a zero. This may require you to spend some time after school making up labs and projects.

      Additional Information
      • Leaving the classroom in the middle of a test, quiz, or other formal assignment is not allowed. Take care of all personal issues before entering the classroom. A consistent pattern of leaving during an assignment will be viewed as giving the test taker an unfair advantage and points may be deducted. Follow the rules provided for the SATs found at http://www.collegeboard.com/html/sat_terms_conditions.html
      • Proficiency in word processing and spreadsheet skills will be an ongoing process.  Formal lab reports and certain assignments will require a certain proficiency using the Microsoft Office 2007 or later package, Google Sheet, and Google Docs which are readily available to all students on the NPSD Internet.  Specifically, we will be using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel throughout the semester.
      • It is the responsibility of the student to keep track of his/her grades. Dr. Croom will not give grades out during the semester. All grades will be posted on the school's Online grading program for you to check. If you question your nine weeks average, you must be able to provide evidence to support your claim. Keep your returned assignments until your grades are finalized.

      Final Course Grade will be determined by the following system.  
      22.5%    of each quarters average
      10%      Final Exam Score