Worried about MISA testing (Biology, 9th) and cant find any prep materials

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

This is no different than taken a final exam or AP exam.

AP exams don't affect GPA, and have well documented curriculum.
Final exams don't exist anymore, and when they did, they were part of the class, not imposed by some uncoordinated third-party .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the score on the test translate to the class grade? Eg is a 4 an A, 3 B, 2C?

“The Semester B final grade for these aligned courses will be made up of the marking period 3 grade (40%), the marking period 4 grade (40%) and the MCAP End of Course (EOC) exam grade (20%). ”
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/eoc/mcps_eoc_studentflyerwfaqs.pdf

It’s not clear yet how the county will roll in the data (% or letter grade), or if they will do a true averaging on percentages or on letter grade quality points (which is how they used to do semester exams.

So this is an end-of-course exam that they are going to take in early May, more than a month before the end of school (and the end of their current science course)?

If lots of kids bomb this test, it is going to be a sh!tshow.

[Anonymous]

I’m worried it will be a sh-t show this year and then they’ll fix the test to make it easier next year. So this year’s class will all end up with bad grades in Bio and the colleges won’t know that it wasn’t the kids’ fault.

Given past experiences with mcap, I just don’t trust those tests at all. I’m hoping I’m pleasantly surprised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the score on the test translate to the class grade? Eg is a 4 an A, 3 B, 2C?

“The Semester B final grade for these aligned courses will be made up of the marking period 3 grade (40%), the marking period 4 grade (40%) and the MCAP End of Course (EOC) exam grade (20%). ”
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/eoc/mcps_eoc_studentflyerwfaqs.pdf

It’s not clear yet how the county will roll in the data (% or letter grade), or if they will do a true averaging on percentages or on letter grade quality points (which is how they used to do semester exams.

So this is an end-of-course exam that they are going to take in early May, more than a month before the end of school (and the end of their current science course)?

If lots of kids bomb this test, it is going to be a sh!tshow.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Too bad for class of '27. So, 60% of Sem2 grade coming from performancnce in Q4+test? equity - giving AlL 9th students same test - mcap instead of a final exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the score on the test translate to the class grade? Eg is a 4 an A, 3 B, 2C?

“The Semester B final grade for these aligned courses will be made up of the marking period 3 grade (40%), the marking period 4 grade (40%) and the MCAP End of Course (EOC) exam grade (20%). ”
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/eoc/mcps_eoc_studentflyerwfaqs.pdf

It’s not clear yet how the county will roll in the data (% or letter grade), or if they will do a true averaging on percentages or on letter grade quality points (which is how they used to do semester exams.

So this is an end-of-course exam that they are going to take in early May, more than a month before the end of school (and the end of their current science course)?

If lots of kids bomb this test, it is going to be a sh!tshow.

I guarantee you that giving the test 8 months into the class will get higher scores than would giving the test 3 months after the course is over, on this test of allegedly essential foundational knowledge for educated members of civilization. Smoke on your pipe and put that in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m worried it will be a sh-t show this year and then they’ll fix the test to make it easier next year. So this year’s class will all end up with bad grades in Bio and the colleges won’t know that it wasn’t the kids’ fault.

Given past experiences with mcap, I just don’t trust those tests at all. I’m hoping I’m pleasantly surprised.

I expect they'll end up with a waiver this year, like they got for Algebra when it was first supposed to be required. MCPS took a whole year to get last year's MCAP sorted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

This is no different than taken a final exam or AP exam.

I think what you may be missing if you don't have a current student in "Honors" Biology is that the schools are not treating this the way they would an AP class. My child's "Honors" Biology class is full of sophomores who took Life Sciences last year, so not exactly your academic superstars. Both semesters, the class has been taught by a teacher barely out of undergraduate.

If MCPS high schools were taking this seriously, they would at least make sure to give these kids teachers with more than four months of teaching experience, to prepare for a test that could seriously impact their GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

This is no different than taken a final exam or AP exam.

I think what you may be missing if you don't have a current student in "Honors" Biology is that the schools are not treating this the way they would an AP class. My child's "Honors" Biology class is full of sophomores who took Life Sciences last year, so not exactly your academic superstars. Both semesters, the class has been taught by a teacher barely out of undergraduate.

If MCPS high schools were taking this seriously, they would at least make sure to give these kids teachers with more than four months of teaching experience, to prepare for a test that could seriously impact their GPA.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

According to this link that a PP posted, if your kid has solid A's in both the 3rd and 4th quarter, the worst they can get as a final grade for the semester is a B. Yes, it's still stressful and frustrating to deal with this test and its impact, but at least you know she can't get a C.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CyVo3XgTAE0-Ku9D5EtFqozQ1NfqfaGS9yxOb2Ia-no/edit#gid=0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

According to this link that a PP posted, if your kid has solid A's in both the 3rd and 4th quarter, the worst they can get as a final grade for the semester is a B. Yes, it's still stressful and frustrating to deal with this test and its impact, but at least you know she can't get a C.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CyVo3XgTAE0-Ku9D5EtFqozQ1NfqfaGS9yxOb2Ia-no/edit#gid=0

+1
Also, don’t assume that the cut scores will correlate to percentages of total points. Standardized testing has large data sets and a statistical process to determine where the break between “grades” is. Some AP tests a 70% is a 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

This is no different than taken a final exam or AP exam.

I think what you may be missing if you don't have a current student in "Honors" Biology is that the schools are not treating this the way they would an AP class. My child's "Honors" Biology class is full of sophomores who took Life Sciences last year, so not exactly your academic superstars. Both semesters, the class has been taught by a teacher barely out of undergraduate.

If MCPS high schools were taking this seriously, they would at least make sure to give these kids teachers with more than four months of teaching experience, to prepare for a test that could seriously impact their GPA.

The test is for all Bio students throughout the state. So don’t think your child’s Honors or non-Honors Bio class is going to make them an anomaly of students more unprepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

According to this link that a PP posted, if your kid has solid A's in both the 3rd and 4th quarter, the worst they can get as a final grade for the semester is a B. Yes, it's still stressful and frustrating to deal with this test and its impact, but at least you know she can't get a C.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CyVo3XgTAE0-Ku9D5EtFqozQ1NfqfaGS9yxOb2Ia-no/edit#gid=0

With this chart, does the Q4 grade include or exclude the exam grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader at a "W" school is panicking while preparing. She has a strong A average in her honors biology class but only got a 69 on the MISA practice test.

Some of what is on the test is physics -- material they haven't even learned (perhaps because she is taking bio this year!).

How can they make the score on this test count for 20 percent of the second semester grade in the course. It seems really unfair. She's done "A" work in class all year and may see her average dragged down to a "B" or even a "C" if she has a bad day on a test that the teacher has ill-prepared them for.

If she had an A both quarters, it will be mathematically impossible for the grade to drop down to a C for the semester. MCPS will average as
40%(letter grade) + 40%(letter grade) + 20%(letter grade EOC exam) with letters on 4.0 scale

(.4)(4) + (.4)(4) + .2(0) = 1.6 + 1.6 + 0 = 3.2 B

Therefore, while it is still not great, failing the EOC exam after two A quarters is still a B. It will be impossible to drop all the way to a C.

[Anonymous]

What happens if the final semester grade ends up becoming a C and the student wants to take the class over in summer school for a better grade? Would MISA be incorporated into that as well?