0 is back

[Anonymous]

F PS announced to staff that 0s are allowed again.

[Anonymous]

It's a start! Any other changes?

[Anonymous]

incoherent

[Anonymous]

Wtf?

[Anonymous]

Zeros on high school grading??

[Anonymous]

Pls explain.

[Anonymous]

DP
MS and HS teachers can assign a grade of a "0" if no work is done. If an attempt is made and the assignment is turned in the minimum grade is a 50%.

[Anonymous]

From Dr. Presidio today:

Dear Middle and High School Teachers,

I’m excited to welcome you back to a new school year! I hope you had a rejuvenating summer and I’m looking forward to another year of partnering with you to inspire students and shape their futures!

I am writing today to provide updates on the division’s assessment, grading, and reporting policies.

Earlier this year, staff in the Instructional Services Department and secondary principal leaders were tasked by the FCPS School Board with engaging stakeholders to look at different elements of the division’s grading and reporting system.

A committee of students, teachers, parents, principals, and central office staff was established to review research, look at the practices of other divisions, and consider changes to our current grading and reporting system. Additionally, student focus groups were conducted at each high school to understand student perspectives on the current system.

Specifically, the grading committee looked at the following division grading policies:
· Grading scale
· Late work
· Number of minimum assignments
· Reassessment
· Rolling gradebook
· Practices around the use of the 50% as a minimum grade

Important Policy Updates for the 2023-2024 school year

Late work: The current late work policy will be maintained as is. The current policy establishes the length of time that teachers must accept late work on major assessments (two weeks) and the maximum deduction for that time period (10%).
Practices around the use of the 50% as a minimum grade: Teachers may now give zeroes for assignments that are not turned in. For assignments where students make a reasonable attempt to complete the assignment, a minimum grade of 50 will be entered. In order to minimize the disproportionate impact of a zero on the final mark, the minimum quarter grade for teachers using a traditional (non-rolling) gradebook will be a 50%. Teachers on a rolling gradebook must use reassessment and grade replacement practices that allow students to update learning from past quarters.
Rolling gradebook: As noted above, guidance around the rolling gradebook has been clarified to note that increased opportunities for students to show mastery is the primary benefit of a rolling gradebook. Use of the rolling gradebook must be coupled with reassessment policies that allow students to reassess and improve grades on major assessments across quarters and/or grade replacement policies that allow later assessments to replace the scores of earlier assessments.

More details, including rationales for each policy change, are available in the Grading and Reporting Toolkit.

Finally, FCPS leadership looked closely at the division’s current allowance of two grading scales. After weighing many factors, including stakeholders’ familiarity with different grading scales, the decision was made to utilize the current modified 10-point scale (with a minimum score of 50 in defined circumstances) as the single grading scale division-wide. This scale is already in place at a majority of schools within the division and is familiar to FCPS students and parents. The new scale will apply to all high school credit-bearing classes and will be required to be used beginning in School Year 2024-25.

To support these changes, updates have been made to the Grading and Reporting Toolkit and will continue to be made throughout the summer. Additionally, opportunities for professional learning around these changes will be made available over the course of the school year.

We will continue to examine our assessment and grading system over the course of next year to understand the impact of these changes and to continue to explore additional practices and policies in support of teaching and learning.

Thank you for all that you do in support of our students.

So 0 for unattempted, no deadline for retakes, and no more 4 pt scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP
MS and HS teachers can assign a grade of a "0" if no work is done. If an attempt is made and the assignment is turned in the minimum grade is a 50%.

+1 way it should be!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP
MS and HS teachers can assign a grade of a "0" if no work is done. If an attempt is made and the assignment is turned in the minimum grade is a 50%.

+1 way it should be!

I don’t get it. So, if the assignment is late, it’s now a 50%??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From Dr. Presidio today:

Dear Middle and High School Teachers,

I’m excited to welcome you back to a new school year! I hope you had a rejuvenating summer and I’m looking forward to another year of partnering with you to inspire students and shape their futures!

I am writing today to provide updates on the division’s assessment, grading, and reporting policies.

Earlier this year, staff in the Instructional Services Department and secondary principal leaders were tasked by the FCPS School Board with engaging stakeholders to look at different elements of the division’s grading and reporting system.

A committee of students, teachers, parents, principals, and central office staff was established to review research, look at the practices of other divisions, and consider changes to our current grading and reporting system. Additionally, student focus groups were conducted at each high school to understand student perspectives on the current system.

Specifically, the grading committee looked at the following division grading policies:
· Grading scale
· Late work
· Number of minimum assignments
· Reassessment
· Rolling gradebook
· Practices around the use of the 50% as a minimum grade

Important Policy Updates for the 2023-2024 school year

Late work: The current late work policy will be maintained as is. The current policy establishes the length of time that teachers must accept late work on major assessments (two weeks) and the maximum deduction for that time period (10%).
Practices around the use of the 50% as a minimum grade: Teachers may now give zeroes for assignments that are not turned in. For assignments where students make a reasonable attempt to complete the assignment, a minimum grade of 50 will be entered. In order to minimize the disproportionate impact of a zero on the final mark, the minimum quarter grade for teachers using a traditional (non-rolling) gradebook will be a 50%. Teachers on a rolling gradebook must use reassessment and grade replacement practices that allow students to update learning from past quarters.
Rolling gradebook: As noted above, guidance around the rolling gradebook has been clarified to note that increased opportunities for students to show mastery is the primary benefit of a rolling gradebook. Use of the rolling gradebook must be coupled with reassessment policies that allow students to reassess and improve grades on major assessments across quarters and/or grade replacement policies that allow later assessments to replace the scores of earlier assessments.

More details, including rationales for each policy change, are available in the Grading and Reporting Toolkit.

Finally, FCPS leadership looked closely at the division’s current allowance of two grading scales. After weighing many factors, including stakeholders’ familiarity with different grading scales, the decision was made to utilize the current modified 10-point scale (with a minimum score of 50 in defined circumstances) as the single grading scale division-wide. This scale is already in place at a majority of schools within the division and is familiar to FCPS students and parents. The new scale will apply to all high school credit-bearing classes and will be required to be used beginning in School Year 2024-25.

To support these changes, updates have been made to the Grading and Reporting Toolkit and will continue to be made throughout the summer. Additionally, opportunities for professional learning around these changes will be made available over the course of the school year.

We will continue to examine our assessment and grading system over the course of next year to understand the impact of these changes and to continue to explore additional practices and policies in support of teaching and learning.

Thank you for all that you do in support of our students.

So 0 for unattempted, no deadline for retakes, and no more 4 pt scale.

So why does it say required for 2024-2025 school year and not this school year??

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

It is a start but this is the key part that parents and teachers cannot let FCPS backtrack on -

Finally, FCPS leadership looked closely at the division’s current allowance of two grading scales. After weighing many factors, including stakeholders’ familiarity with different grading scales, the decision was made to utilize the current modified 10-point scale (with a minimum score of 50 in defined circumstances) as the single grading scale division-wide. This scale is already in place at a majority of schools within the division and is familiar to FCPS students and parents. The new scale will apply to all high school credit-bearing classes and will be required to be used beginning in School Year 2024-25.

- the end of SBG.

Parents make sure you hold Gatehouse to this promise next year and into the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP
MS and HS teachers can assign a grade of a "0" if no work is done. If an attempt is made and the assignment is turned in the minimum grade is a 50%.

+1 way it should be!

I don’t get it. So, if the assignment is late, it’s now a 50%??

No. It says the maximum an assignment can be deducted for lateness is 10%.

If a student DOES NOTHING AT ALL, they receive a 0.

If they make even the most half assed attempt, it’s still an F, but it’s a 50.

Students can retake and reassess to bring that 50 up to something better.

[Anonymous]

Oh this is fantastic if it means no more skills based grading. Those are the “I can” statements that are out of 4 points, correct? A lot of my 7th grader’s teachers used that last year and it’s so confusing.