Starting with the 2025–2026 school year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will implement a revised grading and reporting policy for students in grades 6 through 12. MCPS shared that these changes are designed to bring greater consistency across schools, reinforce academic accountability, and set clear expectations for student learning.
Under the new policy, a student’s final grade will be calculated as the average of their marking period grades. This streamlined approach is intended to provide a more transparent and standardized method for determining final course grades. In addition to the new grading calculation, the revised policy will introduce several other key changes:
• Reassessment Opportunities: Clear guidelines will be provided for students to retake or revise assignments, ensuring they have structured chances to demonstrate mastery of the material.
• Due Dates and Timely Feedback: The policy will emphasize consistent deadlines for assignments and timely feedback from teachers, helping students stay on track and understand their progress.
• Districtwide Assessments: For certain courses, new summative districtwide assessments will be administered during the second and fourth marking periods. These standardized tests will help to measure student learning and achievement on a broader scale.
More below per the MCPS grading and reporting one-pager:
What has changed?
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Grade Calculations for Secondary Courses: A new final grade calculation will be implemented for all students in grades 6-12. Beginning school year 2025-2026, the final course grade is determined by calculating the average of the numeric grades from each marking period. Teachers will no longer use grade calculation charts to determine the final letter grade.
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For semester-long courses: the final grade is the average of the two marking period grades, calculated by adding the numeric grades from both marking periods and dividing the sum by two.
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For full-year courses: the final grade is the average of all four numeric grades, calculated by adding the grades and dividing the total by four.
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End-Of-Course (EOC) exam courses: the grade weight of an Maryland State Department of Education(MSDE) end-of-course assessment in Biology and NSL Gov’t is 20% of the semester B grade.
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Marking Periods (MP) 2 & 4 Summative Assessments: Districtwide summative assessments will be implemented for specific subjects. Assessments will count for 10% of the MP 2 and MP 4 grade. A list of identified courses is forthcoming.
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Report Cards: The MCPS secondary report card will be updated to reflect the new approach to reporting student performance.
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Reassessment: In all secondary courses, teachers will provide students with at least two reassessment opportunities in the All Tasks category per marking period. The following assessments may not be reassessed: end-of-course assessments, marking period assessments, required district assessments, end of semester summative assessments; final research papers, projects or essays; and culminating projects or performances.
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Due dates and deadlines:
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No deadline may be longer than 10 school days after the original due date.
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To ensure timely grade reporting, late work will not be accepted during the final 5 school days leading up to the end of each marking period.
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Assigning a 50%: Teachers shall not assign lower than 50% if the student’s work shows evidence of making progress on the relevant standards that are being assessed regardless of product or accuracy. Teachers shall continue to offer support and intervention.
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Returning Student Work: Graded work will be returned to the student within 10 school days.