Rolling grade book or traditional (or both)?

[Anonymous]

My HS student said that some teachers have said they will do a rolling grade book this year and some are still deciding (or possibly my kid got confused). Is this normal for any secondary teacher to decide? I know last year was all rolling grade book due to Covid. Before that my kid was in MS and it was traditional by QtRs and averaged at end. What is FCPS doing this year?

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain a rolling gradebook?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS student said that some teachers have said they will do a rolling grade book this year and some are still deciding (or possibly my kid got confused). Is this normal for any secondary teacher to decide? I know last year was all rolling grade book due to Covid. Before that my kid was in MS and it was traditional by QtRs and averaged at end. What is FCPS doing this year?

Yep, they can use it - and quite a few used it before COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain a rolling gradebook?

https://www.fcps.edu/academics/grading-and-reporting/secondary/grading-design

[Anonymous]

All teachers at Robinson were told we must use the rolling gradebook. I assumed it was a county mandate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All teachers at Robinson were told we must use the rolling gradebook. I assumed it was a county mandate.

I thought it was, as well (and our HS uses it), but the FCPS website still says that "Both traditional and rolling (cumulative) gradebook types are approved FCPS grading designs." So either the website hasn't been updated or traditional gradebooks are still permitted. If it's the latter, I wish our HS would go back to one; I hate the rolling gradebook.

[Anonymous]

Our MS and HS both mandated teachers use rolling gradebook again this year. We hate it.

[Anonymous]

Rolling gradebook is awful. On misstep and kids can get into a hole they feel like they can't dig their way out of. By the last quarter it's virtually impossible to move a grade upward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All teachers at Robinson were told we must use the rolling gradebook. I assumed it was a county mandate.

So did I. I didn’t know it was specific to the HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our MS and HS both mandated teachers use rolling gradebook again this year. We hate it.

I think the SB approved its (preferred) use this year back in May.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rolling gradebook is awful. On misstep and kids can get into a hole they feel like they can't dig their way out of. By the last quarter it's virtually impossible to move a grade upward.

It depends on the teacher. I give my students chances to prove their mastery of essential skills at the end of the year with a final exam and a few final projects. They won’t get a final grade of an A, but they might get as high as a B if they do good work.

I think the idea is that if they fall apart one quarter, they aren’t stuck with that quarter grade forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rolling gradebook is awful. On misstep and kids can get into a hole they feel like they can't dig their way out of. By the last quarter it's virtually impossible to move a grade upward.

Even with the quarter system it's impossible to move a grade if the student did poorly the first three quarters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rolling gradebook is awful. On misstep and kids can get into a hole they feel like they can't dig their way out of. By the last quarter it's virtually impossible to move a grade upward.

Even with the quarter system it's impossible to move a grade if the student did poorly the first three quarters.

Meaning the overall final grade.

[Anonymous]

Another parent here who prefers the traditional. I mean, why even break the year into “quarters” if you’re using rolling grade book? Any “quarterly” grades are just status checkpoints on the way to the final “rolling” final grade.

[Anonymous]

We were told to have a rolling gradebook at my HS. It's a school-wide thing for us.