Public Schools Update Grading Policy

Alterations to Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ (AACPS) regulation on the grading of student work are going into effect this school year and are focused on increasing student responsibility and providing more time for teachers to focus on instruction, AACPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell announced in August.

Bedell discussed the changes at the Board of Education’s July 17 meeting. The changes came after thorough discussion with principals and school leadership teams as well as with students and parent groups.

“Just as our teachers have a responsibility to deliver quality instruction, our students have a responsibility to get their work done on time,” Bedell said. “Our school system granted a great deal of leniency during the pandemic, but the pandemic is over, and we need to strengthen the regulations and allow teachers to focus on instruction and not as many redoes of student work.”

The changes have the greatest impact at the high school level. They include:

• The number of allowable redoes that can be done by students has been reduced from three to two per class per marking period and must be categorized as “assessments” in teacher gradebooks.
• Late work will continue to be accepted, but with a progressive penalty structure for each class period of lateness. Assignments that are turned in late are not eligible for redo.
• Students must once again exhibit a “good faith effort” to earn a minimum grade of 50% on an assignment.
• Students who are chronically absent may have credit withheld in a course, regardless of their grade in that course.
• Students in all grades who take Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses may opt out of the fourth marking period quarterly assessment in that course if they are taking the AP or IB exam in that course.

At the middle and high school levels, the grading scale now defines an E in the 50% to 59% range.

Principals at the secondary level have been provided with guidance on communicating the changes to teachers, students and families. Teachers will spend time in the first part of the school year discussing the updates with students, and principals will communicate with families during the same period.