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In classes such as AP Language and Composition, students may reach the end of a quarter and discover that just two summative assignments determine most of their grade.

Under a grading structure in which formative work counts for 30% and summative assessments count for 70%, one poor performance among two major assignments could effectively affect 35% of the final grade. That puts enormous pressure on each essay, project or multiple-choice exam while leaving students few opportunities to recover.

More importantly, two assessments cannot fully reflect a student’s knowledge, skills and progress throughout a course. Essays, tests and projects should serve as checkpoints that produce useful feedback and help students improve. When those checkpoints are scarce, students have fewer chances to make mistakes, apply feedback and demonstrate growth.

Adding more summative assignments would also allow teachers to use a broader mix of assessments. Projects, presentations, essays and multiple-choice exams measure different abilities, giving more students opportunities to demonstrate their strengths.

Retakes may offer another chance, but they do not solve the underlying problem. The same two assignments still account for nearly the entire course grade, and students often prepare for retakes without much teacher guidance because classes must continue covering new material.

More frequent summative assessments embedded in the curriculum would let teachers identify problems earlier and guide students before the next evaluation. Instead of allowing two assignments to define an entire quarter, Fairfax County Public Schools should require enough varied assessments to provide a more complete picture of what each student has learned.