Secondary Grading and Reporting

Montgomery County Board of EducationDecember 3, 2019

Historical Context of Grading Practices in Public Schools

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Today’s Discussion

• History and Framing

• Short-Term: Recent COMAR Changes and Implementation in 2019−2020

• Long-Term: Grading and Reporting Workgroup, 2020−2021 and beyond

• Next Steps and Discussion

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History

First districtwide final exams

Standardization of grading procedures(homework, extra credit, “fifty percent rule”)

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First districtwide electronic gradebook

Elimination of Loss of Credit

2000 2006 2007 2010

First PARCC Field Test

Transition to quarterly assessments, new semester grade calculation

Multiple measures, Evidence of Learning

New COMARregulation: Grading and Reporting

2014 2016 2017 2019

No “Perfect” Grading System

• Stakeholder engagement and interest

• National and state conversation, responding to new regulations

• Moving from consistency within schools to consistency across schools

• Focus on assessing student learning

• Equity

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Short-Term: 2019−20202019 COMAR Revisions, Grading and Reporting

New COMAR Requirements:

Grade changes/modifications within 45 days

Audits of grade changes

Explanation of how attendance factors into a grade

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Short-Term: 2019−20202019 COMAR Revisions, Grading and Reporting

MCPS Actions:

• Stakeholder engagement

• Developed new grade modification procedures, form, timeline (45 days), and documentation requirements

• Audits of grade changes each marking period

• Development of systematic credit recovery guidelines, criteria, and training

• Updates to attendance regulation7

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Grade Modification vs. Retaking a Course

Grade Modification Correct an Error• Gradebook errors, addressing Incompletes or missing assignments, grading

and reporting implementation issues, reteaching and reassessment provisions• Within 45 school days

Retaking a Course orA Marking Periodof a Course

• A student repeats and successfully completes a course or a portion of a course

• Grade earned replaces previous grade• Credit recovery: Students repeat the second marking period of a course, not

the entire course

Retake Content

Semester Grade Calculation

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Semester Grade Calculation

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Attendance

• Emphasis on attendance intervention and restorative practices; Attendance Intervention Plans

• For students who do not show improvement: o Final grade of “E3” will be issued and the student will

be expected to repeat the course.

o For students who otherwise have a passing grade, students must be given an opportunity to restore the passing grade irrespective of the attendance status.

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Attendance

• Proposed state regulation out for public comment:

At the high school level, a policy that students with unlawful absences constituting five percent of school days in a semester or in a yearlong course shall be denied credit unless the student presents compelling mitigating circumstances supporting the awarding of credit. To award credit, the school principal shall obtain approval from the Superintendent (or designee).

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Long-Term: Grading and Reporting Workgroup

● Membership

o Additional stakeholder engagement, Councils on Teaching and Learning

● The Charge:

○ Recommend electronic gradebook templates coinciding with new student information system

○ Develop explicit guidance for implementation of “Fifty Percent Rule” and reassessment

○ Examine semester grade calculation○ Examine how attendance factors in to a grade

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Current State of Gradebook

“Grade level or course teams or departments must establish consistent grading processes…”

MCPS Regulation IKA-RA, Grading and Reporting

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ISSUES OF EQUITYCURRENT GRADEBOOK CATEGORIES DETERMINED BY SCHOOL TEAMS

Sample Gradebooks

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MIDDLE SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

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Same Course, Same Assignments, Same Grades: Different Outcomes

GRADEBOOK A GRADEBOOK B

Template Average Template Average

All Tasks 76.59% Formative 85.44%

Progress Check

84.00% Summative 70.50%

Grade 77.33% = C HW 62.75%

Progress Check

84.00%

Grade 81.54% = B

Initial Workgroup Recommendations

● Phase 1: Gradebook Templates○ Moving from consistency within schools to

consistency across schools○ EQUITY: Same courses/content will have

same gradebook templates districtwide○ Ready for implementation 2020–2021

* Importance of professional development, communication, equity of student experience

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Next Phase of the Workgroup

• Semester grade calculation• Guidance to schools and monitoring:

o “Fifty Percent Rule”o Reteaching and reassessmento Ranges of assignment

• How attendance factors into the grade• Rolling timeline

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Grading on a 100 point systemAssigning grades not lower than fifty percent

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0-59E

60-69 D

70-79C

80-89B

90-100A 0

(E)

1(D)

2 (C)

3(B)

4(A)

A Note About Final Exams

• More Learning, Less Testing Act (2.2 percent)

• Emphasis on multiple measures throughout the school year, not at the end

o Are our students learning and learning enough?

• Teacher-created exams vs. districtwide

• Continued engagement and benchmarking

• What colleges and universities have to say

• Historical data

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Historical Data, Final Exams• Final exam grade did not change semester grade for most students• When final exam lowered semester grade, it impacted focus group

students more• For example, 2014–2015 Math Final Exams:

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Related Topics

• Administering districtwide final exams

• Weighted vs. Unweighted GPA for honors courses

• Specifics of attendance policy

• Paradigm around curriculum and assessment

• Communication, training

• Monitoring and accountability

• Teaching and learning

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Looking Ahead and Next Steps

Immediate• Implementing COMAR changes• Gradebook Templates ready for

2020-2021

Next• Guidance for “fifty

percent rule”, reassessment

• Begin implementation 2020-2021

Spring/Summer 2020• Enhanced communications• Training for teachers and

leaders

2020 into 2021• Semester grade calculation

• Attendance• Curriculum, exams

• Ongoing communication, training

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Discussion

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