Teachers should work in collaborative teams to develop a grading design for arriving at the quarter and final grades. Both traditional and rolling (cumulative) gradebook types are approved FCPS grading designs. Schools may set the gradebook type at the school level. All grades entered into the gradebook will relate directly to the standards listed in the Program of Studies or other designated curriculum and should reflect a student’s mastery of content or skills.

Gradebook Categories

FCPS utilizes a uniform category weighting design in all of its secondary classes.

These categories are defined below:

Assessment design for the school year should be balanced and include a mix of assessment types (e.g., projects, papers, presentations, tests, etc.) where teachers design a variety of formats that can give students choice to express their learning.

Students should receive feedback on formative assessments before any summative assessment on the same skills or standards.

Teachers will separate achievement grades from work habit grades. This helps show learning versus responsible behavior. Teachers will communicate student’s attendance, effort, attitude, or other behaviors to parents and guardians through report card comments or other means that do not include grades.

Guidance for teachers related to the separation of achievement and work habits:

• Homework for practice or preparation for instruction may account for no more than 10% of a quarter or final grade.
• Class participation may be included in a student’s grade when based on the quality of a student's response and not the quantity of responses. If a team includes class participation in a student’s grade, guidelines for assessing must be included in the course syllabus.
• Students will not be given extra credit or grades for activities such as bringing in classroom materials, providing parent/guardian signatures, participating in fundraising/charitable events, or participating in non-curricular activities.

Collaborative teams are required to set the grading design so that no one assignment or assessment counts for more than 35% of the quarter grade. This will ensure that no one assignment has a disproportionate impact on the quarter grade.

Grading designs should be approved by the department administrator, and be given to students, parents, and guardians at the beginning of the course.

Rolling Gradebook

A rolling gradebook is a cumulative document that determines final grades by combining all assignments and assessments. It is not an average of quarter marks. The grade posted at the end of each traditional quarter is a snapshot of a student’s current progress in the course. Increased opportunities for students to show mastery is the primary benefit of a rolling gradebook.

If a teacher or team chooses to use a rolling gradebook, the following practices must be in place:

• A flexible reassessment policy that allows students to reassess from past quarters or grade replacement policy where later assessments replace the scores of earlier assessments.
• Communication with the department administrator to ensure that they support the implementation plan.
• Communication with students about how the rolling gradebook works and how it may impact what they see in SIS StudentVUE and on report cards.
• Multiple, intentional communications to families. Information should be included in the syllabus and Back to School Night Presentation at a minimum. Parents and guardians will need to be aware of how a rolling gradebook may impact what they see in SIS ParentVUE.
• Follow division guidelines for gradebook set-up to ensure that timely grades are accessible via SIS ParentVUE and StudentVUE.

Teachers using a rolling gradebook may utilize some limited flexibility within their design around quarter deadlines. For example, if within the learning design of a unit, the summative assessment is better scheduled in the first week of the next quarter, a teacher may use their discretion to move it to that quarter since they are on a rolling gradebook. Teachers should discuss any variations with quarter requirements with their administrator when utilizing this flexibility.

Teachers using rolling gradebooks need to follow quarterly requirements, including the minimum number of graded assignments and the maximum amount that a single assignment can count on the overall quarter grade.