As you’ve probably heard in every class, DCPS has changed their policy regarding late work and grading. But what does this mean for us as students? Although some changes are necessary, such as strict AI punishments, many will make achieving higher grades a bigger challenge.
Starting with arguably the most controversial alteration: the new revisions policy. Before this school year, the district-wide policy allowed students to revise work and earn a new grade of up to 86%, though policies varied from teacher to teacher. However, this year, DCPS has decided to limit revision opportunities to “substandard work,” which is anything lower than a C- (70%). Once revised, the maximum grade you can get is a C (76%), meaning the margins for improvement are narrow. Although it can be claimed that revisions have been generous in the past, limiting revision opportunities so massively has many other issues. Revisions incentivize students to revisit material they struggled with, gain a deeper understanding of coursework, and improve necessary skills for the class. When revisions are limited, students are less inclined to ask for feedback and expand their skill sets.
Another modification that has sparked uproar within the JR community is the grading policy for late work following an unexcused absence. To incentivize students to submit work on time and maintain good attendance, DCPS has adjusted its previous late work policy regarding unexcused absences. Following an unexcused absence, students are expected to submit assignments they missed by the original deadline assigned by teachers. If students fail to do so, their scores will be docked a letter grade (i.e. A- to B-). To us, this policy revision is questionable, as we believe it has little to no effect on teachers as long as it’s submitted by the grade upload in Aspen. Whether submitted on time or 5 minutes late, teachers will likely be grading these submissions days later, leaving little impact on their original grading plan.
While we feel that many aspects of the new DCPS policy are certain to pile stress onto students, others are sure to relieve stress from teachers. Creating less leeway for students to improve their grades, and in such a short matter of time, we believe that these policies are intense and not focused on improving actual learning. Yet at the end of the day, at least we haven’t adopted the phone bans that many other school districts are implementing.
