James Madison High School is committed to creating learning environments where every student’s identity, strengths, and talents are appreciated and cultivated.  We are committed to ensuring instructional and grading practices are consistent throughout the school.  It is vital that all stakeholders clearly understand how a student's evidence of learning is entered into the gradebook and how final course marks are calculated.  Student grades communicate a student’s learning and current level of mastery.  

Madison’s Competency-Based (Skills-Based) Mastery Learning framework is an approach to instruction, learning, evaluation, assessment, and grading that focuses on a student's demonstrated level of mastery for specific skills:

• Focus on Mastery: Competency-Based Mastery Learning prioritizes mastery of skills and knowledge over time-bound benchmarks. It encourages students to persist and work towards achieving true understanding and proficiency, rather than just aiming for a certain grade. 
• Real-World Readiness: Competency-Based Mastery Learning aligns with the demands of the real world, where employers and higher education institutions often look for specific skills and abilities. By emphasizing growth and development of skills and abilities over time, it better prepares students for future success.
• Deeper Learning: Competency-Based Mastery Learning allows students to delve deeper into content and challenges them by exploring advanced topics thus developing a thorough, more advanced, understanding of the material. Students are given the time and support needed to fully grasp and internalize concepts, leading to greater retention, and application of knowledge.
• Increased Engagement: Competency-Based Mastery Learning encourages active student engagement by providing ongoing feedback, allowing for self-assessment, and fostering a sense of ownership over learning. This enhances motivation, as students experience success and build confidence in their abilities.
• Skill-Based Balanced Assessment: Competency-Based Mastery Learning allows for a more comprehensive assessment of a student's abilities. By evaluating specific skills or competencies, it provides a clearer picture of what students know and are able to do with that knowledge.
• Meaningful Feedback: Competency-Based Mastery Learning places an emphasis on providing meaningful feedback to students. Instead of assigning grades based on completion or percentage correct, it focuses on providing feedback on areas of strength and areas for growth. This allows our students to better identify and understand their progress towards mastery and take ownership of their own learning journey.
• Flexibility and Differentiation: Competency-Based Mastery Learning supports differentiated instruction, enabling educators to tailor their teaching methods and materials to meet the diverse needs of students. It allows for the use of various instructional strategies and resources, ensuring that students receive the appropriate amount of support and challenge based on their individual learning styles and abilities.

The following information is consistent for every course offered at Madison High School.  

Rolling Gradebook

Madison will use a rolling gradebook.  Per FCPS, A rolling gradebook is a cumulative document that determines final grades by combining all assignments and assessments. It is not an average of quarter marks. The grade posted at the end of each traditional quarter is a snapshot of a student’s current progress in the course. Increased opportunities for students to show mastery is the primary benefit of a rolling gradebook.  To see more, visit the FCPS Grading Design page.

Skill / Assessment Maps

Collaborative Learning Teams have used FCPS, VDOE, and College Board Curriculum Guides to identify essential skills for students to learn and apply throughout each course.  These skills will be explicitly taught, practiced, and assessed throughout the year.

Teachers will post a skill/assessment map for families that outlines the rough time frames that skills will be assessed. There will be a live link provided to students that will contain any needed updates to this map throughout the year.

Any assessment-specific rubrics/mastery learning targets will be provided to students for each assignment.

Deadlines and Dates in SIS 

Quarter Deadlines with a Rolling gradebook

• Quarter deadlines with a rolling gradebook represent a snapshot of how your student is currently doing in a course and as stated above does not get averaged with grades of future quarter snapshots.
• Teachers using a rolling gradebook may utilize some limited flexibility within their design around quarter deadlines. For example, if within the learning design of a unit, the summative assessment is better scheduled in the first week of the next quarter, a teacher may use their discretion to move it to that quarter since they are on a rolling gradebook. 
• Teachers using rolling gradebooks need to follow quarterly requirements, including the minimum number of graded assignments and the maximum amount that a single assignment can count on the overall quarter grade.

Instructional Practice Assumptions

• Per FCPS, students should receive feedback on formative assignments prior to any summative assessment on the same skills or standards.  It is important that teachers provide regular feedback throughout a quarter, including communicating this feedback by regularly posting graded assignments.
• Teachers should work with students throughout the year to ensure academic support, especially in situations where a student has experienced significant difficulties in demonstrating learning. School staff should work with parents/guardians to provide tiered support for students who are not engaging in their learning.
• Assessment design for the school year should be balanced and include a mix of assessment types where teachers design a variety of formats that can give students choice to express their learning.

Category Weighting, Assignment Type, Purpose, and Points

FCPS courses will use a uniform gradebook design with set category weighting. Learning experiences will include a combination of process and product assessments designed intentionally by teams to align to the following categories:

Summative (Assessment) Category

• Assessments are cumulative in nature and measure mastery of skills
• Counts as 70% of a students overall course grade
• All assignments carry a weight of “1”
• All summative assessments are eligible for reassessments and/or retakes as communicated on each course’s assessment map
• Students should receive feedback on formative assignments prior to any summative assessment on the same skill.

Formative (Practice) Category

• Provides students with feedback that moves learning forward 
• Counts as 30% of a students overall course grade
• All assignments carry a weight of “1”
• Per FCPS guidelines, NOT eligible for reassessments.

Optional Completion Category

• Not all teams will use this category
• Used to communicate information to students and parents around student task completion and work habits. 

FCPS Homework Guidance

Homework should serve a positive purpose for learning and support the instructional program. Homework should be a vehicle through which students practice, apply, and/or elaborate on content that they are currently learning. It may also be used as preparation for learning new content.

Homework assignments should be relevant to content being studied with an emphasis on quality rather than quantity. Homework for advanced learners should focus on understanding content in greater depth and complexity and not on increased time commitments.

High school teachers should plan for homework not to exceed 30 minutes per class block. Reading assignments are considered part of the homework load. Long-term projects may require additional time. Teachers should adjust daily homework assignments accordingly.

Score Types

Madison HS will utilize the district-provided Letter Grade scale. Letter grades entered into the SIS gradebook convert to the highest numerical percentage of the letter grade based on the FCPS grading scale with the lowest value being 50. 

Minimum Number of Assignments

While Madison uses a rolling gradebook, teachers will follow FCPS traditional timelines to report to parents and students.  FCPS guidelines state that teachers are required to enter a minimum of seven grades total (any combination of formative and at least 2 summative sittings) per quarter into the gradebook. Within a quarter, no single assignment can count for more than 35% of the overall quarter grade.

Reassessment and Retakes

Reassessment

• Reassessment happens naturally throughout the yearly instructional and learning cycle.
• Teachers must provide opportunities to reassess summative assessments that provide students opportunities to demonstrate proficiency. 

Retakes

• Per FCPS guidelines, teams will provide a traditional retake opportunity throughout the year as skills are assessed for the last time. By doing this, we minimize the amount of assessments students are required to take during the last few weeks of school.
• Retakes provide students one last opportunity to improve their most recent skill grade immediately following their last attempt on a skill. 
• This serves as the FINAL attempt for a student to improve their grade for a skill. 
• This FINAL attempt is a retake for replacement, not a stand alone grade added to the course.

Grade Replacement

Grade replacement will be an option ONLY for the most recent assessment attempt. (NTIs are not considered an attempt.)   

• All summative skill assessments are eligible for replacement up to an A.
• If a summative skill assessment grade is higher than the previous skill grade, the new grade will replace the most recent recorded mark.
• The original grade (OG) is recorded in SIS as a “Public Note” to communicate the original mark. 
• An assessment that is not turned in (NTI) is not considered an attempt and is therefore not eligible for grade replacement and is scored as a 50% in the gradebook. 
• As per FCPS guidelines, when a summative skill is assessed for the last time, students must be afforded a traditional retake opportunity within approximately two weeks of receiving teacher feedback.  

Late Formative and Summative Assignments/Assessments

• Students will be afforded multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery. Due dates will be communicated by the teacher in class and can be found in Schoology. Students should communicate with teachers about the need for flexibility in advance of due dates. If applicable, teachers and students will work together to determine a reasonable extension and a plan to ensure that students can complete the assignment and receive feedback.   
• Late work will be accepted up to two weeks after the due date with a half letter grade deduction. Teachers will use the SIS public note “Late” to denote when an assignment is submitted late. 
• Late summative assessments (submitted within two weeks) will be eligible for reassessment. 
• Late formative assessments will receive the grade deduction but are NOT eligible for grade replacement.
• Students who turn in formative assignments late may not be able to receive timely feedback from a teacher before a summative assessment. 
• If a student does not turn in an assignment/assessment within two weeks of the due date or misses an assessment, an “NTI” code (valued as a “50%”) may be entered in the gradebook and the assessment will not be eligible for reassessment.
  • For example: A student who turns in an assessment a week late and earns a B on the assessment, will have a B- posted in SIS with the public note of Late.

Make-Up Work for Absences

Students are fully responsible for completing any missed assignments.  Each day of absence affords at least one school day of makeup work opportunity.  The period of time allowed to make up work may be extended at the discretion of the teacher.

Final Course Calculation

Per FCPS, final grades awarded to students will be A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, or F.  Students may be awarded a higher grade based on trends in and mastery of learning.

Madison High School SIS Comment Codes

Madison High School Public Notes

Religious Holiday Observances

Madison High School follows required guidance around religious observance days.  Click here for more information.

Additional Course Considerations

Extra Credit:  Because students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery AND per FCPS policy, no extra points/extra credit will be awarded for any assignments, assessments, or course grades. 

May Testing Window - Expectations for Students:  May is traditionally a month of testing and impacts the pace of instruction across our school community.  Formal instruction, including practice and assessments will continue.  Families should minimize the amount of time students are out of the building.  

End of Course: Courses will not have traditional final exams; however every student is expected to participate in course culminating activities.  Additionally, all students will participate in the MAD WINGS experience for their grade level.

Honor Code

JMHS Honor Statement:  Learning is about the process, not necessarily the outcome. I made my best individual effort and I have not given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment. All of the work presented is my own.

Unauthorized assistance on any school work, which FCPS defines as scholastic dishonesty or academic dishonesty, includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion (including providing unauthorized assistance to another student), falsifying academic records, and any act designed to give unfair advantage to the student through any means including the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). By submitting work for evaluation or feedback, you represent it as your own intellectual product. You may not submit for evaluation any content (e.g., ideas, text, code, images) that was generated, in whole or in part, by GenAI tools unless the teacher has explicitly granted permission to do so. Your teacher will explain to you the uses of GenAI tools that are permitted or prohibited in this course, including on what specific assignments the use of GenAI tools are permitted. Submitting content for evaluation that was produced in whole or in part by GenAI tools, except for the specific purpose(s) and assignment(s) discussed and authorized by the teacher, constitutes an Honor Code infraction. To ensure that an assignment is a student’s own intellectual product, teachers may require specific processes on how to complete assessments, such as having students complete an assignment exclusively in a Google Document or Slide so that they may review the entire draft history for evidence of composition and editing.  Not following a teacher’s specified process may be considered an Honor Code infraction.

Infraction process:

• Teacher determines that a student may have violated the honor code policy.
• An administrator will decide if the infraction constitutes an honor code warning or violation.
• Consequences are given for a violation of the honor code policy.

Additional Information:  https://madisonhs.fcps.edu/about/honor-code