The Post Millennial Reports: New "equitable grading practices," which forbid teachers from giving "zeroes" to students who cheat or fail to turn in homework, are being tested in Portland Public Schools.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that this new grading system strives to overcome "racial disparities" and "inequities" in grading and instruction, which the district first started to consider during the pandemic. According to the outlet, the guidelines are expected to be fully implemented by 2025.

The Portland Public Schools Equitable Grading guidance states that teachers are not allowed to issue "zeroes" to students who have either cheated or have missed assignments. Students are not to be penalized for late work and must be allowed to retake tests and redo assignments until they can demonstrate proficiency, according to the guidance.

In addition, teachers are not to include attendance and participation towards grades and are to decide a student's grade based on an equitable mean.

Portland Public Schools states in the guidance handout that "Historical data shows that there are racial disparities in our pass/fail rate in multiple subjects in both middle grades and high school. During the pandemic, we adjusted our grading to accommodate for some of the inequities in access to curriculum and instruction."