On June 10, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved Policy IKA-RA, a new grading system that changes how student grades are calculated and reported. According to the official MPCS Grading and Reporting One-Pager, final grades are now based on the average of all quarter grades, with some classes including final exams that count for 10 percent of the marking period grade. Students will have two reassessment opportunities per quarter, and late work will only be accepted up to ten school days after the original due date. Teachers are also required to return graded work within ten school days of the assignment submission. 

The Board said the goal of IKA-RA is to address grade inflation and make grades a clearer reflection of student learning. 

“Our goal with these changes is to restore clarity, to raise expectations for our students,” said Kisha Logan, director of the MCPS Department of Curriculum Development, in a statement to Bethesda Magazine.

However, several people have argued that the change came too quickly and without enough student input. During the July Business Board meeting, multiple students testified in front of the Board to share their concerns. 

One testifier, Peter Boyko, Director of Education Policy for the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, criticized the rushed timing of the policy’s approval. 

“I chose my classes for next year in January and the last day to change my schedule was June 6,” Boyko stated in his testimony. “Meaning I, along with the other 88,000 secondary students, chose our classes for next school year without this grading policy in mind.” 

Prior to the July Board meeting, he organized an email lobbying drive to members of the Board of Education and led a workshop to help students prepare to testify.

Junior Marshall Friedman, who also testified at the July Board meeting, expressed concerns about how the policy was implemented, but also said he sees some value in the changes. 

“Yes, it will make junior year harder, but I think that the county has the student’s best interest in mind,”
Friedman said. 

He added that he worries about the effects the policy will have on students, highlighting that, “Every point matters now and students already put a lot of pressure on themselves.” 

However, Friedman acknowledged that the policy will help students in the long run, especially when applying to colleges, as it more accurately reflects the student’s grades.

While some administrators, such as Logan, believe the changes would definitely encourage students to take more responsibility for their learning, others worry about the adjustment period that will inevitably occur in the 2025-2026 school year. In an interview with the Poolesville Pulse, principal Mr. Carothers said he supports the policy but also understands why students are concerned. 

“The main thing that I would like to see is just that kind of re-commitment to teaching and learning,” said Carothers. “Grades should be an indicator of how well you’ve mastered the material. Unfortunately, sometimes grades are more of an indicator how well you “play school”.” 

Nevertheless, he affirmed that the new policy could exacerbate mental health struggles for students, expressing, “What I fear is that you all put so much pressure on yourselves already. And that just feels like an added weight on your shoulders…so I fear some of the repercussions of that.“