Students Calculate Scores From Lorraine Gine, a seventh grade math teacher at Murray Middle School in Stuart, Florida: "Rather than simply read scores out to students after grading homework papers, I teach my students at the beginning of the year how to score them based on an estimate which always leaves them some credit for even trying the assignment. We count up how many problems were on the assignment, and how often that number divides into 100. The answer is used as the number of points off per wrong answer, even if another number would be a better estimate. For example, if we do 21 problems, I ask them how often 21 goes into 100. Even though 21 is closer to 20, and 5 would be the best estimate, the answer to the question would be 4, and therefore we only take 4 points off for incorrect answers. This way, even the child who struggled with the assignment gets 16 points protected for his/her effort. As the year progresses, the kids learn to calculate the value of each question on their assignments by themselves. I offer extra credit points for volunteering to explain to the class the grading scale for the day. It really gets them thinking! They practice their mental division skills, learn about percents, and actually ask for more practice problems if they are concerned about losing too many points for each problem."