Montgomery County to review overhaul of grading policies

Grading policy overhaul review in Montgomery County

A major shift is coming to how Montgomery County students are graded, as the County Council?s Education Committee meets on Thursday to review new policies affecting retakes, late work, and final grade calculations.

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A major shift is coming to how Montgomery County students are graded, as the County Council’s Education Committee meets on Thursday to review new policies affecting retakes, late work, and final grade calculations.

The changes, approved by the school board on June 6, respond to relaxed standards adopted during the pandemic and aim to address concerns over grade inflation and policy inconsistencies. The Montgomery County Education Association supports the reforms.

"Quite frankly our grading and reporting system has been broken in MPCS for quite some time," MCEA President David Stein said. "Ideally grades should be a reflection of learning and under our system, they often are not."

READ MORE: Montgomery County Public School proposes grading overhaul

MCPS grading policies to become more 'rigorous'

Our Bob Barnard breaks down the new grading policies coming to Montgomery County schools this fall, including a return to percentage grades and stricter deadlines aimed at raising academic standards.

Changes starting this fall:

• Final grades will be based on the numeric average of marking period grades, rather than rounded letter grades.
• Students will have at least two reassessment opportunities per marking period.
• No late work will be accepted during the final five days of each marking period.
• Districtwide assessments will return twice a year and count for 10% of a student’s grade.
• A minimum score of 50% will remain for assignments, but students must show progress.
• Teachers will be required to return graded work within 10 days.

Initial proposals to apply the changes only to rising ninth graders were dropped. The updated policies will apply to all students in grades 6–12.