DeKalb County, Georgia, schools have a uniform grading policy for elementary education across the district. Classwork and class participation are worth 40 percent of the final grade. This category includes group activities, for which students' cooperation and work with others is considered in the grade; debates and speeches; performance-based activities such as science experiments; and daily class assignments.
Tests and quizzes are worth 30 percent of the final grade, including short-answer tests, student-generated tests and unit tests. Projects are worth 25 percent of the final grade, and may include multimedia projects, dramatic presentations, poetry and portfolios. Homework is worth the final 5 percent of the grade, including all homework that is an extension of that day's lesson and any family projects.
South Carolina's state Board of Education has established a statewide grading policy for high school students, based on the standard 4-point scale. Under this grading policy, a score ranging from 93 to 100 percent of the possible points available merits a grade of A, or 4.0; a score from 85 to 92 percent merits a B, or 3.0; a score from 77 to 84 percent merits a C, or 2.0; a score from 70 to 76 percent merits a D, or 1.0; and anything under 70 percent merits an F. One-half of a grade point is added for honors courses, one full grade point is added for courses that merit college credit as well as high school credit, and one full grade point is also added for Advanced Placement courses.
Professors or their academic departments often set college grading policies. Under a grading policy at Emory University in Atlanta, exams, quizzes, homework and class participation all receive grades, with the professor grading on a curve; that is, grading so that the average score received in the class is deemed as a score of 80, or a grade of B-minus. Under this policy, A grades range from 90 to 100 percent, B's from 80 to 89 percent, C's from 70 to 79 percent, D's from 60 to 69 percent, with any score under 60 earning a grade of F. This policy allows makeup tests and assignments from time to time, as well as the possibility of earning extra credit.
The University of California, Berkeley, Law School eschews letter grades in favor of a modified pass-fail system. Students in the top 15 percent of the class receive High Honors, and students in the next 30 percent of the class receive Honors. All other students receive grades of Pass, No Credit or Substandard Pass. All students are graded on a curve, with their work compared to the work of other students.