Norwell High School has identified school-wide expectations for student learning. A rubric has also been developed for each academic learning expectation. Each department has a primary responsibility for one of the learning expectations.

The Norwell High School learning expectations are designed to reinforce the skills students need to learn and demonstrate throughout their high school experience. While the learning expectation rubrics do not determine grades, we will be examining how well they correlate with scoring guides. Each department will use their rubric in conjunction with a student assignment during each semester. A copy of the student’s work and the rubric will be kept in a portfolio folder located in the records’ room.

Over time, students will become more familiar with academic learning expectations. Each year, the assignments students are asked to complete will become more complex and require an increased depth of thinking and quality of presentation. Although the assignment and materials will change, the rubrics will remain the same. As we work with the rubrics, we will look to improve upon them when necessary.

As students work to meet the learning expectations, teachers and departments will also use the rubric results to evaluate curriculum/content and instruction. This process is designed to clarify academic expectations for students and to maintain a continual process of reflection and “decision-making related to [our] curriculum, instruction, assessment, policies, and procedures” (NEASC 5).

P = Primary Responsibility

S = Secondary Responsibility

NEASC, the New England Association of School and Colleges, asks schools to “communicate aggregate data on the school’s progress achieving all school-wide expectations to the school community…To report school-wide progress, schools may choose to present this information to the press, on the school’s web page, through regular news letters that go to the entire community and not just the parents, in the town or city’s annual report, and in many other ways” (NEASC). “Guide to Developing and Implementing the Mission.” New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC) August 2