END OF YEAR GRADING AND STUDENT PROMOTION

Approved by the NC State Board of Education April 23, 2020

On Thursday, April 23, the State Board of Education provided a new statewide grading policy for students in grades K-11 due to COVID-19 school closures.  The grading policy was broken up into three separate parts to include K-5, 6-8 and 9-11.  The grading policy for seniors provided by the State Board of Education on March 27 remains the same.  For each grade level outlined below, please keep in mind the following:

• A student’s grade will be held harmless for learning after March 13.  In anticipation of this state policy, Lee County Schools made the decision on March 30 not to grade any assignments given after March 13. 
• Students not passing as of March 13 were provided an opportunity to improve their grade by completing makeup work and/or redoing assignments.  Those assignments will be graded and will be a factor in the final grade and/or feedback provided by teachers. 

Under a temporary grading policy approved by the board, elementary and middle school students will not receive traditional grades for the year, and high school students in grades 9-11 will have the option of choosing between a grade of pass/no credit or a numeric grade for their spring semester courses this year 2019-2020.

What does this mean for my child’s final grade?

K-5

• Grades K-5 students will not receive a final grade.
• Teachers will provide year-end written feedback for students and families based on their learning this school year.
• Academic and social/emotional feedback will be used to help transition students into the new school year.

6-8

Students will receive a Pass (PC19) or Withdrawal (WC19) for the final course grades for all middle school courses.

• PC19 will be assigned to any student who was meeting expectations and passing the course as of March 13 or who worked to improve to the point of passing after March 13 through remote learning. 
• WC19 will be assigned to any student who was not passing the course as of March 13 and who was unable to improve to the point of passing the course through remote learning opportunities.  A middle school course grade of WC19 does not equate to a failing course grade nor does it indicate that a grade retention should occur or that the course must be repeated.  The grade WC19 simply indicates a lack of evidence of mastery of standards addressed in the particular content area.
• Teachers will document individual student strengths and needs from both an academic and social/emotional perspective to ensure an effective transition from the spring 2020 remote learning process to the 2020-21 academic year. 
• *High school courses taken in middle school will follow the grading options for high school students in grades 9-11, with the understanding that if there is a numeric grade on the transcript it will not be calculated in the high school GPA per State Board of Education policy, Course for Credit, CCRE-001.

9-11

Students in grades 9-11 and non-graduating seniors will choose how each final course grade will appear on their transcript for their currently enrolled courses, year-long and semester courses.  Schools will begin reaching out to discuss these options in the coming weeks.  If students cannot be reached, they will be permitted to make changes after schools re-open. 

Option 1:

• Report the numeric grade, their highest grade representing either their learning as of March 13 or as improved through the semester as remote learning continued.
• Students will receive course credit.
• The numeric grade and quality points for each course will be used to calculate GPA.

Option 2:

• Report a PC19 or WC19.
• Students opting to receive a PC19 will receive course credit.
• PC19 or WC19 will not impact GPA.
• WC19 receives no course credit but students could take advantage of future credit recovery or repeating a course for credit.

Will my child be promoted to the next grade?

• Student promotion and retention will remain the decision of the school principal and staff.
• Schools will primarily focus on those retention cases that were already well underway prior to March 13 for reasons other than the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic issues.