Norris Business Department

Home > Departments > Business > Shirley Montgomery > High School Accounting

High School Accounting

          Accounting classes at Norris consist of two year-long courses:  Beginning Accounting, and Advanced (High School) Accounting.

          Grading.  The high school classes in accounting have a lot of grades recorded each quarter.  Each chapter has three grades (the lab work, an objective quiz, and a problem test).  Then, after every unit (ranging from two to five chapters), a unit problem test (weighted five times) and a unit objective test (weighted five times) are given.

          Several “debit-credit” quizzes are given after the rules of debit and credit are introduced in Chapter 4.  All of these quizzes together count as one unit test grade.  Each quiz consists of ten questions similar to “What is the balance of an asset?”

          In the fourth quarter of the class, a “practice set” is completed.  This project (which is designed around a student’s doing one month’s worth of accounting for a business) counts 50 percent of the fourth quarter grade. 

          The semester test counts 10 percent of the final course grade (45 percent for each quarter grade, 10 percent for the final).

          Extra Credit.  The “challenge” problem at the end of each chapter is never required.  If a student chooses to do the challenge problem, it is scored for extra credit.  The extra credit equals a maximum of five points per “part”—some chapters have seven or more “parts” for the challenge problem.

          Writing.  There is one writing assignment each semester.  In the first semester, students are to describe the accounting cycle.  This paper is due the first Monday in December.

          In the second semester, the topic is to compare and contrast assets, expenses, and costs.  This paper is due the first Monday of May.