Prairie Farm Middle School Late Work Policy

The coupon system:

            In an effort to reduce the number of late assignments and missed work that students have, help students to remain current in school work, and provide a consistent and manageable system for teachers the following coupon system has been designed.  Every middle school student would begin the first quarter with 4 “coupons” in each class, the second quarter with 3 “coupons” in each class, the third quarter with 2 “coupons” in each class, and the fourth quarter with 1 “coupon” in each class. 

What are coupons used for:

These coupons can be used when a student has not completed a daily assignment on the due date or when a student has done poorly on a daily assignment and would rather use a coupon than take the low score. 

How are they used:

These coupons are not actual paper copies, but instead they are simply kept track of by the teachers.  Students must let the teacher know when they choose to use a coupon.  Teachers will have a spreadsheet of the students in the middle school and would simply check off that a coupon has been used in their classroom.  This way paper copies can not be traded and students are not trying to keep track of paper coupons for separate classes. 

How do they work:

            Late assignment:

When a student tells a teacher that he/she would like to use a coupon for an assignment that he/she has not completed, the teacher would mark that off on the spreadsheet, and the student will get 100% credit for the assignment if it is completed within three days, otherwise the coupon is used and the assignment remains a zero.  For example, Fred does not have his assignment done for math class on Tuesday so he tells Mrs. Vande Berg that he would like to use a coupon.  Mrs. Vande Berg marks off after Fred’s name that he would like to use a coupon, and enters a “c” in her grade book showing that Fred used a coupon on that assignment.  Since assignments are worth 5 points in Mrs. Vande Berg’s class, when he turns in that assignment two days later, the “c” is replaced with a 5. 

            Poor assignment:

When a student tells a teacher that they would like to use a coupon for an assignment that he/she did poorly on the teacher would mark that off on the spreadsheet, and the student will get 100% credit for the assignment immediately.  Students can save these coupons until the end of the quarter, but must have the assignment to show the teacher when they decide to use the coupon.  In other words, if you want to save your coupons until the end of the quarter, you must also save your daily assignments. 

The goal: 

            The goal for students is to not have a “zero” in the grade book in any class by the end of the quarter.  This means however, that once all four coupons are used, no work can be turned in for credit.  These are zeros.  If a student can complete the quarter without any zeros, then he/she would receive some sort of reward while those with missing work must miss out on the reward by having some sort of study hall, skill building session, silent reading time, etc.  By reducing the number of coupons each quarter we hope to help students get better at being organized and meeting deadlines.