Grading and Assessment
Grading Policy
ACPS Grading Committee
ACPS is forming a K–12 committee to review grading practices and recommend updates to related regulations. We are seeking teachers, administrators, parents/guardians, and students to participate.
Interested in serving? Complete the form below to learn more and express your interest.
Key Classroom Grading Updates for 2026-27
To bring consistency across our schools, ACPS has established specific guidelines for reassessments, late work, minimum grades, and assignment counts. These interim updates establish immediate equity across classrooms so that grading expectations do not depend on a student's building or teacher assignment.
During the 2026-27 school year, division leaders and the Grading Committee will gather feedback from teachers, students, and parents to evaluate these practices and help design permanent procedures for future school years.
|
Grading Area |
2026-27 Guidelines | Instructional Rationale & Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Retakes / Reassessments | Students can retake each summative assessment, paper, or project one time to demonstrate standard mastery following relearning, with retake scores capped at a maximum grade of 90. | Encourages learning recovery and mastery while maintaining academic rigor and recognizing initial mastery performance. |
| Late Work Window* |
All work for a unit of study is expected to be turned in on time. No work will be accepted after the retake or revision date for the summative assessment, paper, or project date for the unit. Within this window, work submitted more than 2 weeks late can earn up to a maximum grade of 85. |
Provides a reasonable opportunity to complete assignments and show learning without letting students fall too far behind. |
| Missing / Unsubmitted Work | Unsubmitted assignments are recorded with a grade of 40. Assignments must be substantially complete as determined by the teacher to receive a grade between 50 and 100. | Differentiates missing work from attempted work while not mathematically skewing the grading scale or making recovery impossible. |
| Minimum Number of Assignments | All courses will have a minimum of 5 graded assignments per quarter and no single assignment may count for more than 20% of the semester grade. | Allows students multiple opportunities to show learning and ensures no single assignment is overly high-stakes. |
| Rolling Semester Average | Students will receive grades for the first and second semester. The final course grade will be an average of the two semester grades. | Clarifies and standardizes current division practice across all courses and schools. |
*While this regulation is meant to have grades represent student mastery, it is our expectation that students turn in work on time. This builds important work habits for students and maintains the high expectations for student performance that we have in Albemarle County Public Schools.
Teachers and schools may utilize other systems to help support students staying current in their work. Mandatory attendance during intervention periods, lunch detention, or after-school tutoring in order to make up work may be required if students have missing assignments.
Additional Operational Requirements
Separation of Work Habits & Achievement
Student behavior, attendance, and compliance must not inflate or deflate academic grades. Work habits should be communicated separately.
Gradebook Currency & Early Risk Notifications
Gradebooks must be maintained with regular updates. At the 6-week mark of each quarter, parents will be made aware through ParentSquare if their student is in danger of receiving a D or F, has fallen two grades since the last quarter, or is missing enough work to put them in danger of receiving an Incomplete.