Teachers and students at WJ are no strangers to MCPS’s grading structure – classifying every assignment under either the “All Tasks” section, worth 90% of a student’s grade, or the “Practice Preparation” section, worth only 10%. Graded assessments like tests and quizzes typically fall under the AT section, while homework and other assignments are usually classified as PP.
PP assignments look different for every teacher and vary among subjects. Teachers are required to assign a minimum of five PP grades per quarter in addition to nine AT grades. This can be difficult for teachers who prefer measuring students’ academic drive with only large assessments or lengthy projects.
Many students don’t take the 10% PP category seriously since it seems like such a small portion of their grade. This is frustrating for teachers who want to assign tasks that they don’t have time to meticulously grade for accuracy, as students often decide to either skip these assignments or put in a bare minimum amount of effort.
Some teachers make it clear when assignments will be placed in the 90% category, and others keep it a mystery. Math teacher Steven Kerr assigns roughly four PP grades per week and doesn’t tell his students when he’s taking a closer look at homework.
“I just grade random ones. Some students are watching their grades closely, so it is important to them to get every point possible,” Kerr said. “Unfortunately, some students believe that 10% of the overall grade may not be worth the extra effort.”
Teachers like Kerr believe that every assignment should be completed to the best of the student’s ability, regardless of how their grade might be impacted by it.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to avoid the all-powerful 90% section of the gradebook. Even completing 100% of the PP section with perfect accuracy can’t guarantee a high overall grade in a class. Most students recognize this reality quickly, and they’re often left wondering if it’s worth it to invest time into PP assignments.
Sophomore Siddharth Gulati spends a couple of hours on schoolwork each night and feels that it can be frustrating to focus on PP assignments, knowing they don’t have a strong impact on his report card.
“PP assignments can give you more practice and experience while still being relatively easy to complete,” Gulati said. “I wish they could have more weight on your grade.”
Senior Samantha Bowcut does what she can to get her practice assignments done. Still, she admits that with a few hours of work each night, it is unreasonable to do time-consuming assignments that may not affect her grade rather than study for assessments that are more heavily weighted.
“Sometimes they’re really lengthy and take too much time to be worth not that many points,” Bowcut said. “I do enough to keep my A in the class.”
Students like Bowcut still see the positive sides of PP being included in grading. Although some wish these assignments could have a stronger impact on class performance, there’s something to be said for 10% being dedicated to completion.
“I prefer classes with both PP and AT assignments because PP can be an easy 10% to boost your grade,” Bowcut said.
