After about a decade of standards-based grading in Prince William County Schools, big changes could be on the way.

The school division is starting a review of its countywide grading practices, with some officials saying the current standards-based method has been unevenly applied and is not working as intended.

Standards-based grading is meant to emphasize mastery of material over test-taking or other assignments. As such, tests can be retaken and grades can be changed if a student demonstrates understanding of what has been taught. At the same time, homework is de-emphasized.

But some parents and school officials say there’s been no consistent application of the policy since it was instituted about a decade ago under former Superintendent Steven Walts.

During the May 17 School Board meeting, Superintendent LaTanya McDade said she was initiating a task force of teachers and administrators to review the division’s grading policy and recommend any changes it might find necessary.

“The grading policy, I do believe, needs to be amended. We do need to take a look at the grading policy. I know that there were changes made during COVID, and we’re out of that now; it’s time to take a hard look at that and some of the practices that are occurring,” McDade said.

“We also do need to take a look at how we’re ensuring that we’re norming practices across the school division so that from one school to the next, making sure that there are some consistencies around grading practices,” she added.

Inconsistencies across system
The standards-based method – in particular, the practices around test retakes and homework – has been the subject of significant research, some of it showing that the approach can lead to better comprehension for students.

But some School Board members say what they’re seeing in some schools now is a far cry from how it was supposed to be implemented years ago.

Justin Wilk, the Potomac District representative, was at Gainesville Middle School when he helped pilot the new approach. Back then, he said, students with certain grades on exams were offered the opportunity to retake an exam, but only after demonstrating a willingness to better master the material.

“At its onset … and done right, I think it’s a very effective system. It makes the kids work harder – or it should have – to show mastery, to have the right to do something like a retake. It’s become now almost like unlimited retakes, or kids have learned to game the system now,” Wilk told InsideNoVa.

“Now it’s just become a matter of, ‘OK, get them over the finish line.’ And that was not the intention of standards-based grading when it was implemented,” he added. “There needs to be consistency across the schools and even across grade levels and departments.”

Critics of the system also point to the fact that, since the approach was first implemented in the school division, the percentages of students receiving Ds and Cs hasn’t dropped significantly.

Meanwhile, some say, habits developed among students and teachers during the height of the pandemic – when deadlines for all kinds of assignments were far more flexible – have been hard to completely shake now that school is back in person full-time, as it has been for the past two years.

Gainesville board member Jen Wall said she has heard from parents whose children have attended different high schools – due to the redistricting timeline for Gainesville High School – and say that policies changed dramatically between buildings.

“Parents are like, ‘What is this grading policy?’” Wall told InsideNoVa. “Before they can say, ‘Is this philosophy working?’ … They need to say, ‘Are we implementing it appropriately and consistently?’ And if we are and it’s still not working, then we can look at the philosophy itself.”

While McDade did not offer a timeline for when the task force might complete its review, Wilk said he hoped it might have something to report to the School Board around the beginning of the 2023-24 school year in August.

While Prince William County Public Schools are considering moving away from the standards-based method, other divisions are thinking of adopting it. Last year, Fairfax County Public Schools officials announced that division was reviewing grading policies and was considering moving toward a standards-based system.

“I’m not sure we’re particularly happy with this route,” Prince William School Board Chair Babur Lateef told InsideNoVa. “Now, there’s a lot of research that supports going down [the standards-based] road … The problem is, we have some inconsistencies.”