State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal announced today new rules that Washington state teachers must follow when determining grades for high school course credit.
The new rules stipulate the following:
- March 17 is the starting point for the new grading system.
- A student’s baseline letter grade is the letter grade earned by March 17.
- All students will have the opportunity to improve their baseline letter grade. The final letter grade will not be lower than the baseline letter grade.
- Teachers will assign A, B, C, or D letter grades or assign an “incomplete.”
- Students assigned an “incomplete” for a course will be given opportunities to re-engage and meet the learning standards.
- An “F” may not be given as a letter grade. If a student’s baseline letter grade was an “F” and has not been improved through remote learning, the student may receive a “D” or an “incomplete.”
- The following marks are not allowed: credit/no credit, pass/fail.
Under OSPI’s rulemaking authority, Superintendent Reykdal issued an OSPI Emergency COVID 19 grading practices bulletin outlining a framework and key principles for student learning and grading throughout the remainder of the school facilities closure. The framework enhances statewide consistency while maintaining local flexibility.