Student Assessment and Feedback

1. Purpose.  The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance regarding student assessment and feedback.  It provides a broad baseline for use by educational program directors when developing specific grading policies.
   
   
2. Background.  The goal of assessment is to ensure that students achieve the approved Student Learning Outcomes for a particular educational program or course.  Timely and effective feedback is a critical element of assessment, providing students with an understanding of how well they addressed the requirements of a particular assignment and how successfully they accomplished the learning outcomes being evaluated.  MCU students are graded on how well they achieve these outcomes; however, it is important to remember that grades are simply one way to evaluate intellectual progress, not goals in and of themselves.   A fair and consistent grading policy helps motivate students to excel.     
   
   
3. Graded Assignments and Instruments.  MCU curricula are based on approved learning outcomes, which, in turn, enable the achievement of program outcomes and the mission.  Students are assessed in a variety of ways to include exams, written assignments, oral presentations, and performance in practical application events and exercises.  Where appropriate, schools should use grading rubrics to structure student assessment and to provide a tool for shaping student expectations and consistently evaluating performance.  The approval and use of grading rubrics is at the discretion of the educational program director and should be promulgated to students as part of the school’s grading policy.  
   
   
4. Grading Policies.  Educational program directors will approve and publish the academic standards and grade requirements necessary to pass a course and/or to successfully complete an educational program (e.g., school grading policy, SOP, and student handbook).  Unless otherwise approved, directors will use the standard grading scale provided below. 
   
   
5. Grading Guidelines and Standard Grade Scale.  For consistency across MCU, the standard MCU Grading Scale provided below will be used for the awarding of student grades, both for individual assignments and for overall course and/or program grades.  For the degree-granting programs, students must achieve a minimum grade of B-/80% in every course, to include electives, in order to receive the degree (such programs may require their students to achieve higher grades to earn the degree).  International Military Students (IMSs) seeking to earn master’s degrees must be held to the same standards of academic rigor; that said, schools may take into account the language difficulties of non-native English speakers when grading student assignments.  For all Officer PME schools, a cumulative final grade of >80% is considered to be the minimum acceptable standard for PME and is normally required for graduation.  Enlisted PME programs do not use letter grades; however, grades below 80% are considered failure of an assessment, and students must achieve a cumulative final grade of >80% to complete the course.  Finally, schools may evaluate selected assignments and courses on a HIGH PASS/PASS/FAIL basis as a means to promote intellectual risk-taking and creativity.

• Grade	Percentages	Letter Grade Conversion
  A+	97 – 100%	4.0
  A	93 – 96.9%	3.7
  A-	90 – 92.9%	3.5
  B+	87 – 89.9%	3.3
  B	83 – 86.9%	3.0
  B-	80 – 82.9%	2.7
  C	70 – 79.9%	2.0
  D	60 – 69.9%	1.0
  F	<59.9%	0
  Incomplete	0	0

  
  MCU Standard Grading Scale
  
  Remediation.  Educational program directors will establish policy regarding remediation of courses or assignments for which a student fails to achieve the minimally
  acceptable grade. Students who fail remediation, or who are consistently unable to meet academic standards, will be considered candidates for a Student Performance
  Evaluation Board (refer to Chapter Sixteen).