WASHINGTON — The Prince George’s County’s school board is considering a series of recommendations that would drastically change the way high school students are graded.
Under the proposal, the floor for high school grades would move from zero to 50 percent. Also, teachers would no longer be able to use behavior, attendance or tardiness as grading factors. Educators would be required to allow make-up work regardless of the reason for the student’s absence.
Teachers would also be required to give grades of no less than 50 percent on all assignments for “good faith effort,” meaning any assignment in which a student completes at least half of the work.
“We all need to lean into our discomfort and engage in this work,” Charles H. Flowers High School Principal Gorman Brown told the board on Thursday, as he presented the recommendations from the Grading and Reporting Cross-Functional Project Team, “keeping in mind the goal of assuring that our young people can compete globally.”
Brown told the school board that the recommendations come after a year of “robust” discussions between parents, administrators and educators, and that the proposals are aligned with national best practices and supported by educational research.
Brown said part of the rationale for setting the lowest grade level of 50 percent for the first three quarter is that it solves the mathematical inequity of the current grading system. A student could begin a year with a 20 percent score the first quarter, do better and get a 60 the second quarter, get a 65 third quarter, then get a 90 for the fourth quarter, Brown explained.
“Under our current grading system, that student, though experiencing success for three out of four quarters, would receive an ‘E’ (failing grade) for a final grade,” Brown said. “There is no justice.”
But Prince George’s County Educator’s Association President Theresa Dudley said the union is “very concerned” about some of the proposals.
“The recommendation of students receiving 50 percent for good faith efforts is problematic,” Dudley said in a statement read at the school board meeting. “What is a good faith effort when another recommendation is that teachers be responsible for allowing 10 days for make-up work?”
Dudley told the board that teachers are professional educators, and each educator has a class system for late work.
“How is this making students college and career ready when we are not teaching the basic skills of being timely with your work?” she asked.
