Late work policy?

[Anonymous]

Coming in humility, thinking my family made a colossal mistake enrolling DS in J-R (DCPS) and not pursuing private school options when we moved to DC two years ago. Wondering if we need to make a move into privates soon for his elementary-aged younger sibling.

DCPS still has their extremely lax Covid-era grading policy. Highlights:
- The lowest F a student can get is a 63% in the grade book. (Student fails test by getting 40 questions out of 100 correct? 63% This doesn't really impact our kid, but noting it for context)
- Even if a student doesn't submit an assignment, it's 50% in the grade book. Submitting *nothing* = 50%
- This is the part that's killing us: a student can hand things in at *any point* in the quarter and a teacher must accept it, even if the class moved on from the unit eight weeks ago.

This last part has exacerbated his "lazy smart kid" tendencies. His teachers hate the policy, as they say this procrastination is very common and they get an onslaught of late work at the end of each term. I hate it. Everyone hates it but the kids.

Is this just the world now and the bar is just this low? Are privates are doing the same (I highly doubt it...)? Please share your middle & high school's "late work" policies and any relevant info about the grading policy.

[Anonymous]

It's kind of the world. Ours goes to a school that is definitely in the "sought after" category and I was shocked to learn they do something similar in high school.

I think it's somehow considered an equity thing.

[Anonymous]

Kid is in 8th and another graduated in May. The HS especially doesn't mess around with grades. You get whatever grade you earned and there are no allowances barring special circumstances.

Late work (without explanation) is not accepted. Period. Don't turn it in? You get a 0.

Whatever you get on the test is your grade. Unless the teacher offers a retake (only in the MS classes) your grade is your grade. There is no lowest grade possible.

The MS grading policy just changed this year to a normal policy (90-100 A, 80-89B, etc). It used to be harder (93-100A, 84-92B, etc) but they just changed it.

The school doesn't give an F about equity and I'm 100% ok with that.

[Anonymous]

No, this is the biggest difference between public and private and a giant reason we pulled our smart kids from DCPS.

My kids (at Deal) would do no work until the last week of a quarter. Get a WS in all assignments. Turn in everything. Get an A for the quarter. Next quarter: same thing. My youngest (of 3) was especially proficient (or should I say guilty) of this. She had it down to a science. She literally did not do any work outside of 4 weeks during the school year. She would retake most exams. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, the privates my kids are in (Big3 for what it's worth) don't allow any late work. No retakes. Maybe once per year a teacher will give test corrections when the class average on an exam is a 60 or 70. Basically you get what you get and you don't get upset.

[Anonymous]

I think public school grading in this respect is much more forgiving and lenient! Private schools are more firm about deadlines and less opportunities for partial credit, retakes, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think public school grading in this respect is much more forgiving and lenient! Private schools are more firm about deadlines and less opportunities for partial credit, retakes, etc.

Yep. Preparing them for college and the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, this is the biggest difference between public and private and a giant reason we pulled our smart kids from DCPS.

My kids (at Deal) would do no work until the last week of a quarter. Get a WS in all assignments. Turn in everything. Get an A for the quarter. Next quarter: same thing. My youngest (of 3) was especially proficient (or should I say guilty) of this. She had it down to a science. She literally did not do any work outside of 4 weeks during the school year. She would retake most exams. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, the privates my kids are in (Big3 for what it's worth) don't allow any late work. No retakes. Maybe once per year a teacher will give test corrections when the class average on an exam is a 60 or 70. Basically you get what you get and you don't get upset.

Ahhh! I feel so seen!! Yes! I forgot to mention the stupid retakes. It's destroyed any concept of studying/walking into an exam prepared.

This gives me hope. Thank you for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Kid in private 7th. Every day late is a letter grade lower, unless there is a valid, approved reason (e.g., 2 weeks ago, my kid was home sick with covid and didn't have access to the necessary, non-digital materials in the school library so unable to complete an assignment).

[Anonymous]

My dd in middle school at SR has been burned on handing in late assignments, every day is a 5% reduction. So if you fail to turn in your science homework on Monday when it’s due and don’t see the science teacher again until Thursday your highest possible grade is now an 85%. Teachers generally do not remind students that something is missing, my daughter found an old assignment in her bag that she had forgotten to submit and at that point she was looking at a 55% max. It does teach responsibility and accountability but can be pretty rough for a disorganized 11 year old.

[Anonymous]

Each teacher has a slightly different policy, but all of them have some level of penalty for unexcused late work, and an excuse must be given prior to the due date (or on it if sick that day). No retakes but they all go over every exam together in class, so you learn what you missed. And a zero is a zero, and they don't round up grades for GPA. They also don't weight grades (but will if a college requests it).

I'm told that lots of kids' grades improve in the upper grades when teachers treat the class like college with fewer grade events.

[Anonymous]

I don’t mind them losing grades for missing work I just wish we knew about it sooner or maybe a warning issued first that it’s due the next day or something. My kid is in 6th at a private K-8
I find out on the facts app tat she got a 0 for something missing but the due date was 2 weeks prior. I can’t address it with my kid at the time if I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dd in middle school at SR has been burned on handing in late assignments, every day is a 5% reduction. So if you fail to turn in your science homework on Monday when it’s due and don’t see the science teacher again until Thursday your highest possible grade is now an 85%. Teachers generally do not remind students that something is missing, my daughter found an old assignment in her bag that she had forgotten to submit and at that point she was looking at a 55% max. It does teach responsibility and accountability but can be pretty rough for a disorganized 11 year old.

Not at SR, but I’ve had my kid scan in homework and send it through their online portal to avoid late deductions on the in-between days. I’m sure the teacher has an actual mailbox somewhere for things like this, but my kid was appalled at the suggestion he ask around for it.

[Anonymous]

Definitely not the norm. For math there is daily homework and the kids get two points for homework - 1 point if turned in the next day and 0 after that. For other subjects everything must be turned in on time. Also, tons of quizzes and a good number of tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think public school grading in this respect is much more forgiving and lenient! Private schools are more firm about deadlines and less opportunities for partial credit, retakes, etc.

Yep. Preparing them for college and the real world.

This lack style above has not been the case for our child at public W high school. They are not allowed to get credit for late work. They can’t retake quizzes etc but they take honors and AP classes and perhaps it is not the same in regular level classes. They can also not ask for extra time “extensions “ like my child in a big three can. So it isn’t the same at all publics or privates.

[Anonymous]

My DC was at a private high school that didn’t accept late homework, didn't offer retakes, so called deflated grading discussed on this forum (big3). Currently a freshman in college and told me the other day that she can’t believe how so many of her friends don’t turn in essay assignments on time at college, don’t do homework in language or math, etc. Several have been burned when the teacher has refused to accept work late. One example was that their english professor asked for everyone to turn in a draft of their essay a week before it was due. This was optional, but the professor would comment on the thesis, analysis, etc. My daughter said she was the only one in her 3 friends in the class that actually turned in the draft. The others were writing it the night before it was due. I have no idea where these kids went to high school, but they are from major cities (NYC, SF, LA, Houston).