Montgomery County Public School proposes grading overhaul

ROCKVILLE, Md. - School may be out for Spring Break but there is still plenty of working being done after school leadership proposed changed to the Montgomery County Public School grading system.

New system-wide grading proposals were announced in an April 10th School Board meeting. Watch that portion of the meeting online.:

"One of the very first things that was brought to my attention as your new superintendent this year, was expectations for grading and reporting, how they've changed in recent years and areas in which we can make improvements," said MCPS Superintendent Dr. Thomas W. Taylor.

Grading policy changes proposed

What we know:

School leaders say students are complaining of grading and homework expectations being inconsistent. There's concern of grade inflation and that some students are not doing the work because they've figured out how to "game" the current MCPS grading system. 

MCPS leaders started their presentation with an explanation on "how we got here." They discussed MCPS implementing a 50% rule in 2008, where so long as a student made an attempt, the lowest score they could get was a 50.

There's been other changes since. However, in the pandemic, MCPS really relaxed grading and homework rules — rounding grades up is another practice.

MCPS' Chief Academic Officer and Chief of Schools gave the presentation, noting how last school year, MCPS did already make some changes. The changes described include adding a state end of course exam for 9th graders, implementing an assignment minimum for the year and reinstating quarterly district assessments.

However, MCPS leaders said students are frustrated that the rules and requirements are different class-to-class, school to school.

Now MCPS leaders say there will be teacher training to provide clarity and align standard.

Debate over ninth-grade rules

In an example given, the school leaders said they would clearly identify what "making an attempt" means, in order for a student to get that 50% lowest score.

Instead of rounding up the grade, another change would now average the 1st and 2nd marking period percentages to get the semester grade. There would also be a 10-day rule implemented so students can no longer return school work at the end of the marking period.

The school board vice president says what was happening was not getting students college ready.

"This has been long overdue. Long overdue. First thing when I came in and I saw with a group with — I think you Jolene, we went to Wheaton and had a , I sat on the floor with these kids. And the first thing they told me, first thing: We are not being challenged by this grade policy. This is not really helping any more. Like, we can see it made sense during Covid. What is going on?" said MCPS School Board Vice-President Grace Rivera-Oven.

She also agreed with the MCPS School Board President and others, who raised concerns on proposed grade changes only being implemented for incoming 9th graders.

"There's a staff member with 30 students in a math class for example, and the students — some of them might be 9th graders because they've been taking accelerated math in middle school and elementary, some might be in 12th grade etc. — then that's also one additional thing we're asking our teachers to do, is to keep track of that and then implement different grading policies dependent on the student,' said MCPS Board Member Rita Montoya, "There's so many students, there's so many staff, there's bound to be errors also, which then we're going to have to go back and correct. So I'm just really concerned about this idea that we would allow some students to continue, unfairly perhaps, earning grades that are not a true reflection of what they have mastered."

Any changes agreed upon would be implemented in the 2025-2026 school year.