Schools in Washington state will not be allowed to give students a failing grade during the coronavirus pandemic.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal announced Wednesday that high schools in the state would be implementing a “do no harm” grading policy to keep students afloat while they manage distance learning as schools are shut down. Reykdal noted that students will be graded with As, Bs, Cs, Ds, and “incompletes.”
“Fs will not be allowed — there will be no failures this term,” Reykdal said, later adding, “Our policy is, ‘Do no harm.’ Students won’t move backward … every student will have a chance to make progress.”
Students who earn an “incomplete” grade will have the opportunity to make up the credits in summer school, online courses, or by “backfilling the incomplete grade with the letter grade obtained in the next course taken in that subject area.”
The state opted not to do a pass-fail grading system because of the impact it could have on students applying to colleges based on their grade point average. Reykdal also announced that student transcripts will note which courses were taken during the pandemic to denote the “unique environment in which the course was taken.”
Schools in Seattle have already taken the grading scale to the next level. Seattle schools will allow students only an “A” grade or an “incomplete” because the district believes it will ensure “no students are penalized because they might not have the same advantages at home that other students have.”
