For Middle and High School, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has decided that grades will be given for the 3rd Quarter (Q3) and the 4th Quarter (Q4) will be pass/incomplete.  However, MCPS has not yet decided how grading the 2nd Semester (S2) will be handled, which is the decision that has the most impact as only the semester grades are reflected on students’ transcripts and therefore what colleges see.

During the April 21, 2020 Board of Education (BOE) Meeting, it was stated that this matter was being considered, but the “preferred option” was to award a” Credit/No Credit or Incomplete” for S2.  However, we strongly believe this approach is unacceptable, and students MUST be given the option of receiving a letter grade for S2. 

There are several ways to do this that have been widely proposed and discussed.  For example, the S2 grade could be the Q3 grade or better (allowing students to exhibit effort/mastery in Q4 to raise their final grade from Q3 marks), or a credit/pass in Q4 could be treated as an “A” and then combined with the Q3 grade for the purposes of calculating the S2 grade.  In fact, locally the first approach is being implemented in Fairfax County, VA and the latter approach has been implemented by Howard County MD as well as the Alexandria, VA district (where a pass will count as a 100%), and both approaches have also been implemented in many other school districts across the country.

The BOE stated during their April 21st meeting that their guiding principles for determining the grading policy are: 1) Maximum flexibility, fairness, and equity, 2) Holding students harmless, 3) Policies and procedures that serve the best interests of all students, but especially those who may not be able to fully access instruction during this time, 4) For seniors, ensure that 4th and 5th year seniors on track to graduate will graduate on time, and others given flexibility in meeting their remaining graduation requirements by August 2020.

Not giving students the option to receive a grade for S2 directly violates principles #1,  #2, and #3, as it is limiting flexibility vs. maximizing it, it is not fair to students who have rightfully earned their Q3 grades only to have them not count, it is causing significant harm to students in terms of their college application process, and for all these reasons it does NOT serve the best interests of all students.  More specifically:

• We understand the inequities that exist, the hardships that many students face, and the very unique and different type of teaching and assessment that is taking place.  So certainly a pass/incomplete is a valid option for many students.  However, for many other students, receiving a grade is a much better and much preferred option, so there is no reason not to allow both options as that would be providing MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY.
• Students put in significant time and effort in Q3 to obtain the grades they did, so these grades should not be simply thrown out / not counted (which would be the case if no S2 grades are given).  Students spent countless hours on homework and studying, stayed up late to do work, bypassed other activities, and made many other personal sacrifices to achieve their Q3 grades.
• The students were never given any indication that their Q3 grades would not count so it is vastly unfair to do this after the fact and after the grades have been earned…in fact this could be considered a “breach of contract”.  The vast majority of Q3 occurred before schools were closed, so there is no reason grades earned for Q3 should not be considered as fully legitimate.
• For college applications, it is extremely important that students be given the option to have a S2 grade.  Colleges will be very understanding of course, but the fact of the matter is our students will be competing for spots with students from other schools (the vast majority) who do have grades for this time period so our students will be significantly disadvantaged.  Furthermore, with many schools implementing  “Q3 or better” or “Q4 pass = A” policies, their students are likely to have very good grades for S2.
• Without grades for S2, some students will be harmed even more than others, particularly:  1) Juniors, whose S2 grades are some of the most important ones for college admissions, 2) students who took a high number of AP and Honors courses and by their hard work did well in them.  These students will have permanently lost the opportunity to earn “AP/Honors” grades for those classes as well as demonstrate to colleges their mastery of these difficult classes.  Not have a S2 grade also impacts Middle School students who are taking courses that will be on their high school transcript as it is questionable that six years from now college admissions officers will be taking into account that grades on their transcript were adversely affected by this policy.

In conclusion, providing both the option to also receive pass/incomplete grades OR a traditional letter grade for S2, all students receive what is most beneficial and fair to them given their situation.  Students who want a grade (and don't want the work they did and the grade they earned in Q3 thrown out) get one, and students who believe they were disadvantaged due to all the changes and disruptions can opt for the pass/incomplete option. 

This provides maximum flexibility, does no harm to students, provides fairness to all, and perhaps most importantly will help alleviate the stress that all students are feeling which would fulfill the promise expressed in the April 1, 2020 MCPS Letter to Parents, Students, Staff and Community Members that states: "We understand that many high school students are worried about their grades…Our collective goal is to reduce any stress about grades to the greatest extent possible.".  Many, many students are extremely stressed right now about the possibility that they may not receive a S2 grade.