School Board Policy 5030 and accompanying K-12 Assessment and Grading Common Guidelines for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) staff are based on the belief that assessment of student learning is an essential component of the teaching and learning process and assessment has the potential to motivate students and improve learning. Additionally, this policy seeks to establish a consistent approach to assessment and grading in all Loudoun County Public Schools. Assessment and grading of student progress are based on the premise that students have diverse capabilities and individual patterns of progress and learning. Teachers and principals are responsible for developing instructional plans based on frequent and varied assessments of the students' needs, abilities, and progress. Grades shall not reflect behavior but rather, a student’s mastery of content or competencies of the curriculum. 

At Mercer, we will not be using the Extra Credit option nor the option to use homework as a minor summative assessment.    Teachers must work collaboratively with the CLT to create common summative assessments using a backwards design model.  Interdisciplinary teams should make every effort to avoid scheduling more than one significant assessment per day.

Authentic Assessment 

(PBAS, PAs)

A Performance Based Assessment (PBA) is an authentic, relevant way to measure students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions aligned to Gold Standard PBL.  A PBA assesses what a student can do with what they have learned and can be embedded in a PBL experience or a stand-alone assessment that allows students to demonstrate knowledge of content and competencies.

VDOE Authentic Assessment Link

Grading Floor