Grades are a major determining factor in many kid’s futures. Starting a new year off with a bang is sometimes hard after a long relaxing summer with not a thought of school in your mind. Well this year, it was important to get off to a strong start because of an FCPS grading policy change that can mean the difference between passing and failing.
FCPS no longer a rolling grade book but is now a four quarter grade book. The change makes it so that at the end of each quarter, the grade book closes and you get a reset at the end of each quarter. At the end of the year it averages out your grade for the four quarters and that is your grade for the year. Some departments are allowed by FCPS to use rolling gradebooks for one more year if they are piloting new grading methods.
“When we are looking at just the grade that gets posted, we have to dig into the grade book to know if there are zeros or fifties being used,” said Jessica Grenfell, Director of Student Services at Falls Church High School. “That’s one of the big differences between the two [Standard v.s. Rolling].”
The change in the grade book has students reminiscing about the rolling grade book. Other teachers have even grown to like the rolling gradebook more than the current standard grade book.
“The grade shown on the report card [rolling gradebook] at the end of every quarter is a snapshot of their progress at that moment in time and tells students what they need to do to improve,” said Math Department chair Paul Naanou. “If they [students] have a grade from the first quarter for a standard they understand better four months later, they can have an opportunity to reassess it and only the new grade will matter.”
Some faculty see the change to a traditional gradebook to be beneficial and see a bright side to having a standard gradebook rather than a rolling gradebook. The standard gradebook can help kids get their grade up after a rough first semester.
“The standard grade book, which we had used years ago, consistently as well, you would take the first quarter, the second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter and average them so you were always like I did really well that quarter so I get a fresh start on that as well,” said Grenfell.
Students have a different perspective on the topic of the change to the grade book. Now that the quarter is over, students will start to see what happens when the grade book resets.
“After being so accustomed to the rolling grade book, the sudden shift to standard has not favored me whatsoever,” said Thomas Nguyen (10) “Although it gives students an opportunity to make up their grade without having the previous quarter affect them, good previous work you accomplish no longer matters after the quarter.”
The change to the grade book from rolling to standard has affected a lot of the student body and there are some strategies that you can use so that you can prepare for the end of the quarter. Some things that you can do to prepare for the end of the quarter is check in with your teachers. You could also write down what you need to accomplish. Naanou uses a similar strategy in his classes.
“[Students] can pinpoint the standards they need to improve upon and then do additional practice,” said Naanou. “Our favorite part of this spreadsheet [that we use to help students self-assess] is that students do work for what they need to improve upon rather than forcing all students to be in lock step and complete the exact same assignments.”
Many students will have to work harder this year to have a good grade and keep it consistently so that their grade won’t drop.
“I would go back to the rolling grade book in an instant because it positively affects students’ grades and rewards students that complete work consistently,” said Nguyen.
