Facing growing concerns over inconsistent grading practices, the Fairfax County School Board is moving forward with plans for a comprehensive update of its grading policy for the first time in more than a decade.
The policy revamp comes after years of complaints from teachers, parents, and students that the current system lacks clarity and consistency.
The school board initiated the review after a committee of students, parents, teachers, and administrators submitted a report in May highlighting issues — from varying grade book types to inconsistent reassessment policies and subjective use of zeros — that have led to disparities in how students are assessed across schools.
The report found a slight uptick in failing grades and declining grade mobility post-pandemic, underscoring a need for uniform practices that accurately reflect student learning and help reduce stress and teacher workload.
While some piecemeal tweaks have been made recently, including the option for teachers to give a “zero” for missing assignments and the addition of a “D-” grade, school board members say they now hope to move beyond temporary fixes and establish clear, consistent standards across Fairfax County Public Schools.
Key changes in the proposed policy
Most recently discussed by the school board’s governance committee on Oct. 29, the proposed changes include removing the “D-” grade, incorporating homework and pass/fail policies directly into the main framework, and clarifying guidance for when teachers should give a zero versus 50% for assignments that aren’t turned in.
The policy also seeks to standardize how teachers record and report grades, and more clearly distinguish between “formative” assessments that provide feedback as students learn about a subject (such as quizzes) and “summative” assessments that evaluate overall mastery (like final exams).
The current policy draft doesn’t specify an exact split between formative and summative assessments. Instead, it directs the superintendent to “create a balanced and fair approach” that allows students to demonstrate mastery through various methods.
Mason District representative Ricardy Anderson says, right now, in some schools within her district, major exams or projects can account for up to 90% of a student’s grade, leaving just 10% for homework and quizzes.
“If you have one bad day, there’s no coming back from that poor test [grade],” she told FFXnow.
In other schools, big projects or exams only make up 60% or 70% of a student’s overall grade, which Anderson says encourages students to take homework and classwork more seriously.
That approach also ensures a student’s grade isn’t overly dependent on a few high-stakes tests but instead reflects their overall learning progress and performance, she added.
“The weighting really does matter,” she said.
Policy would standardize option for students to retake tests
The new policy aims to standardize reassessment practices across FCPS, requiring teachers to offer students at least one chance to retake a major test, regardless of their initial score.
Hunter Mill District representative Melanie Meren says this would address current disparities in retake policies that vary drastically between schools and even teachers. Some teachers allow retakes no matter the original grade, while others only permit them if a student scores below a certain threshold, like 70%.
“It creates differences in culture, including how stressed students are, or the way that they approach their schoolwork and actually learning the content,” Meren told FFXnow. “It creates differences in workload for teachers — whether they get more or less reassessment requests … Ultimately, though, it creates differences in how colleges view what a student is doing, because, over time, colleges might say, ‘Oh well, high school A, they’re really easy graders.”
Meren noted that the push for consistent retake opportunities is meant to give students more equitable chances to show what they’ve learned and streamline the process for teachers, students and schools.
“For students who are neurodiverse, which is a lot of our students, those with ADHD or other executive functioning limitations, it just makes it more complicated,” she said of the existing case-by-case approach.
Ensuring consistency in grade reporting
The proposed grading policy revisions also address inconsistencies across FCPS in how teachers record and report student grades.
Currently, some teachers use a quarterly grade book, where grades are finalized at the end of each quarter. Others use a rolling grade book that’s updated continuously throughout the academic year.
The rolling grade book was introduced during the pandemic to offer students more flexibility if they’re struggling to master concepts within a set timeframe, Anderson says. However, many teachers weren’t properly trained on how to use it effectively, leading to confusion and inconsistent practices.
“Grade books, if you’re doing it properly, you’re supposed to have other assignments, other assessments of those content that the student was not productive or successful in to replace the grade, not just keep it hanging over your head,” she said. “Otherwise it doesn’t become helpful.”
Anderson emphasized that she’s not opposed to rolling grade books, but wants to ensure proper training and consistent use across schools. Inconsistency, she argued, creates unfairness and can provide advantages or disadvantages to students depending on their teacher’s approach.
“We shouldn’t have the geometry teacher at school A using a rolling grade book … and using it well, and the geometry teacher at school B using a rolling grade book and not using it well, and the geometry teacher down the down the hallway at school C using a quarterly grade book,” she said. “It makes no sense.”
Approval of new revisions still uncertain
Over the past several weeks, Meren, Anderson, and the rest of the school board governance committee — including Braddock District representative Rachna Sizemore Heizer, Dranesville District’s Robyn Lady, and Sully District’s Seema Dixit — have been hashing out details of the revised grading policy.
Despite their progress, they have yet to review certain sections, like FCPS’ policy on using zeros versus 50% for missing assignments.
The committee is split on which approach is better. While a zero would indicate that a student didn’t do or turn in their assigned work, some argue that it has too significant an impact on their overall grade, whereas a 50% gives the student more of an opportunity to recover.
Students with teachers who give out zeroes are also at a disadvantage compared to peers whose teachers set 50% as the minimum threshold.
The policy update also looks at existing grading scale, which the superintendent previously tried to standardize. But the board is mulling whether codifying the scale was enough or a deeper review of grading practices is needed.
The committee hasn’t reached a consensus on the final draft of the new policy, which they hope will get approved before the end of the year. A committee meeting scheduled for this past Wednesday (Nov. 6) was canceled, and it’s unclear when a draft will be ready to go before the full board for a work session.
