Someone posted 50 percent of HS Seniors have a 4.0?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Here, the authors find that the proportion of students with A averages (including A-minus and A-plus) increased from 38.9 percent of the graduating class of 1998 to 47 percent of the graduating class of 2016. "

This original question seems to have fallen off the radar. Yes, indeed, about half (47%) of seniors have an A average. This is from the Inside Higher Ed article posted above.
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2017/07/17/study-finds-notable-increase-grades-high-schools-nationally

The OP asked about the percentage of students with a 4.0 average. This study included those with A minus grades as well.

[Anonymous]

Unweighted? No way.

Weighted? Yes, it's possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
No. My kid knows not to waste time. Most of the kids in his group are slackers who don't have a very bright future ahead of them. The group project is not going to be a transformative or life changing experience for the slackers. They are happy that they don't have to work and they think it is a win that they got an Easy A. The truth is that getting that A will not change their lives. They remain low achieving students. And to get an A because someone else worked for it probably is not a great feeling when they see it on their report card filled with Cs and Ds. Unfortunately, these are not kids who are good in anything else. Not only they are not good in studies, they are also not good in sports, painting, cooking, singing...nothing. It is like they have no interest and just wasting time.

I bet the dipsh*ts are good at video games, vape, maybe weed smoking, and can tell you their fantasy football roster, and how many points Lebron James scored last night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawd. School has so darn little to do with education.

1. Agree with poster on page 1 re: open-book tests. Recall is a terrible measure of learning.
2. That it's a zero-sum game is such a tell. Learning is better when it's collaborative and cooperative. The game sucks.
3. As far as standardized tests go, SATs correlate more closely with zip codes than anything else.

I’m not sure why people keep repeating this when all the evidence shows that it’s not true. There’s much more variance of standardized test scores in any SES decile than there is between the deciles.

Because they and their kids bombed the ACT/SAT. It’s a cope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some cheating, but my kid has to claw and fight for every "A" he gets and does not cheat--he has said that he catches other kids trying to look at his answers. He goes to a private school, if that matters-- although I think cheating happens everywhere.

He recently turned in a partner project where he did all the work and had to put his partner's name on the final result. I can verify that because he spent an entire weekend stressing/doing the whole thing. I told him "that's life-- you'll have all kinds of people who won't pull their weight, and you just need to learn who they and deal with it."

There is a lot of pressure placed on kids now-- I can imagine why they feel they must resort to cheating.

Group projects always have different levels of contribution to the final project and that is life. I am sure teachers intentionally pair weaker students with stronger for many of these projects..i would do the same. It is a learning opportunity all the way around.

I have seen parent march up to the school and demand that their snowflake be placed with other strong students. Very short sighted approach IMO.

My kids are straight A kids. They are in the habit of doing their entire Group Project by themselves because they know that the other students will either not do their work or will do shoddy work. My kids don't care if underserving students in their group also get an A. They are focused on themselves. Many a times they will complete the project way ahead of time and email to the rest of the group and NO ONE ever gives any feedback on what needs to be improved etc.

In other words, your child doesn't know how to work with a group, which is the point of the project.

No. My kid knows not to waste time. Most of the kids in his group are slackers who don't have a very bright future ahead of them. The group project is not going to be a transformative or life changing experience for the slackers. They are happy that they don't have to work and they think it is a win that they got an Easy A. The truth is that getting that A will not change their lives. They remain low achieving students. And to get an A because someone else worked for it probably is not a great feeling when they see it on their report card filled with Cs and Ds. Unfortunately, these are not kids who are good in anything else. Not only they are not good in studies, they are also not good in sports, painting, cooking, singing...nothing. It is like they have no interest and just wasting time.

Given how you condescending you come across when describing other students, your kid might come across the same way...meaning they really are not good in groups. As a hard worker, I hated group projects as well. But you need to learn to deal with people---it comes in handy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some cheating, but my kid has to claw and fight for every "A" he gets and does not cheat--he has said that he catches other kids trying to look at his answers. He goes to a private school, if that matters-- although I think cheating happens everywhere.

He recently turned in a partner project where he did all the work and had to put his partner's name on the final result. I can verify that because he spent an entire weekend stressing/doing the whole thing. I told him "that's life-- you'll have all kinds of people who won't pull their weight, and you just need to learn who they and deal with it."

There is a lot of pressure placed on kids now-- I can imagine why they feel they must resort to cheating.

Group projects always have different levels of contribution to the final project and that is life. I am sure teachers intentionally pair weaker students with stronger for many of these projects..i would do the same. It is a learning opportunity all the way around.

I have seen parent march up to the school and demand that their snowflake be placed with other strong students. Very short sighted approach IMO.

My kids are straight A kids. They are in the habit of doing their entire Group Project by themselves because they know that the other students will either not do their work or will do shoddy work. My kids don't care if underserving students in their group also get an A. They are focused on themselves. Many a times they will complete the project way ahead of time and email to the rest of the group and NO ONE ever gives any feedback on what needs to be improved etc.

In other words, your child doesn't know how to work with a group, which is the point of the project.

No. My kid knows not to waste time. Most of the kids in his group are slackers who don't have a very bright future ahead of them. The group project is not going to be a transformative or life changing experience for the slackers. They are happy that they don't have to work and they think it is a win that they got an Easy A. The truth is that getting that A will not change their lives. They remain low achieving students. And to get an A because someone else worked for it probably is not a great feeling when they see it on their report card filled with Cs and Ds. Unfortunately, these are not kids who are good in anything else. Not only they are not good in studies, they are also not good in sports, painting, cooking, singing...nothing. It is like they have no interest and just wasting time.

Given how you condescending you come across when describing other students, your kid might come across the same way...meaning they really are not good in groups. As a hard worker, I hated group projects as well. But you need to learn to deal with people---it comes in handy.

I'm the pp who first brought up the group project -- for the record, DS's partner is a struggling student, not necessarily a slacker. I think the kid is in over his head, and has just given up...at least that's DS's opinion.

DS is a hard worker, but not a brilliant student, and not one of the popular kids, and he feels he's getting deliberately "stuck" with this student on project after project. It's hard, because I'm trying to teach empathy and tenacity to my son-- but he isn't able to study as much as he would like for finals because he's going into school early and staying late to finish up the work of two people. He's about to the lose the "A" that he's worked tooth and nail for all semester (and will go on his college transcript) because of this situation. I feel like the teacher must be checked out if she's not noticing what's going on and trying to help out...but crickets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure source, if someone knows, I’d love to see. This is the problem, there is no way, if true, that there isn’t rampant grade inflation. Which does everyone a disservice, really.

It’s been true for at least ten years. USA Today in 2017:

“New research shows nearly half of HS seniors graduate with A average”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/17/easy-a-nearly-half-hs-seniors-graduate-average/485787001/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our high schooler's end-of-year awards ceremony, the principle asked the students with 4.0 to stand up and everyone stood up. Literally, every student stood up. My spouse and I laughed, and some people looked at us. My spouse said, "well hello, grade inflation!" When we were in high school, you might see three students stand up, not the entire auditorium.

It's because a 4.0 today is like a 3.0 from when you were. a kid. They just altered the scale. Same thing when they changed the SATs back in the 90s.

If that’s true Gen X parents don’t understand they’re being duped. Everyone in our family and social circle is constantly bragging about their kids having all A’s and much better grades than they ever had when they were teens.

[Anonymous]

MCPS is basically on a 5 point scale for college bound kids. Most kids are in honors or AP classes all 4 years (aside from PE). There is honors health and honors chorus (which does not require an audition only prior singing). Honors means grade level but an A = 5.0. I consider a 4.0 weighted to be a B student.

[Anonymous]

MCPS also is 1.0 for honors, right? FCPS gives honors .5 bump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some cheating, but my kid has to claw and fight for every "A" he gets and does not cheat--he has said that he catches other kids trying to look at his answers. He goes to a private school, if that matters-- although I think cheating happens everywhere.

He recently turned in a partner project where he did all the work and had to put his partner's name on the final result. I can verify that because he spent an entire weekend stressing/doing the whole thing. I told him "that's life-- you'll have all kinds of people who won't pull their weight, and you just need to learn who they and deal with it."

There is a lot of pressure placed on kids now-- I can imagine why they feel they must resort to cheating.

Group projects always have different levels of contribution to the final project and that is life. I am sure teachers intentionally pair weaker students with stronger for many of these projects..i would do the same. It is a learning opportunity all the way around.

I have seen parent march up to the school and demand that their snowflake be placed with other strong students. Very short sighted approach IMO.

My kids are straight A kids. They are in the habit of doing their entire Group Project by themselves because they know that the other students will either not do their work or will do shoddy work. My kids don't care if underserving students in their group also get an A. They are focused on themselves. Many a times they will complete the project way ahead of time and email to the rest of the group and NO ONE ever gives any feedback on what needs to be improved etc.

In other words, your child doesn't know how to work with a group, which is the point of the project.

No. My kid knows not to waste time. Most of the kids in his group are slackers who don't have a very bright future ahead of them. The group project is not going to be a transformative or life changing experience for the slackers. They are happy that they don't have to work and they think it is a win that they got an Easy A. The truth is that getting that A will not change their lives. They remain low achieving students. And to get an A because someone else worked for it probably is not a great feeling when they see it on their report card filled with Cs and Ds. Unfortunately, these are not kids who are good in anything else. Not only they are not good in studies, they are also not good in sports, painting, cooking, singing...nothing. It is like they have no interest and just wasting time.

I once had a neighbor who pointed at every other house on the block and told me what was wrong with the people who lived inside. Spoiler alert: the other neighbors were the likable ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is basically on a 5 point scale for college bound kids. Most kids are in honors or AP classes all 4 years (aside from PE). There is honors health and honors chorus (which does not require an audition only prior singing). Honors means grade level but an A = 5.0. I consider a 4.0 weighted to be a B student.

This is why colleges recalculate and apply their own rules for weighting (or not). The gpa as reported by the school is meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure source, if someone knows, I’d love to see. This is the problem, there is no way, if true, that there isn’t rampant grade inflation. Which does everyone a disservice, really.

At our non-DMV private (which has competitive grade-based entry), less than 20% has a 3.85-4.0. The notion that 50% of a school can have 4.0 or even that 40% could have 4.0 is pretty shocking.

I don't understand how colleges can compare GPA in context since grading systems are so different. I know school's send the school profile, and ours certainly does, but I'm not even sure that's enough given the discrepancy between schools on awarding As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are doomed.

Ridiculous...this is HS math and science. It is perfectly possible for a student to actually learn the material and perform on an exam without cheating. That is the way to go or they are screwed when they get out of HS and actually have to know how to learn, analyze and communicate.

My kids are the ones who don't have 4.0s, have learned the material in the hardest possible classes in spite of the imperfect grades, and so are doomed because apparently everyone else has a 4.0, and it turns out that these days, GPA is all that matters in admissions. They don't care what you learned, just what your numbers are.

This is my kid. Does really well on the AP exams but his actual grades aren’t great, including a couple of the dreaded Cs. He has repeatedly said he is one of the few that aren’t cheating or using AI to do their work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some cheating, but my kid has to claw and fight for every "A" he gets and does not cheat--he has said that he catches other kids trying to look at his answers. He goes to a private school, if that matters-- although I think cheating happens everywhere.

He recently turned in a partner project where he did all the work and had to put his partner's name on the final result. I can verify that because he spent an entire weekend stressing/doing the whole thing. I told him "that's life-- you'll have all kinds of people who won't pull their weight, and you just need to learn who they and deal with it."

There is a lot of pressure placed on kids now-- I can imagine why they feel they must resort to cheating.

Group projects always have different levels of contribution to the final project and that is life. I am sure teachers intentionally pair weaker students with stronger for many of these projects..i would do the same. It is a learning opportunity all the way around.

I have seen parent march up to the school and demand that their snowflake be placed with other strong students. Very short sighted approach IMO.

My kids are straight A kids. They are in the habit of doing their entire Group Project by themselves because they know that the other students will either not do their work or will do shoddy work. My kids don't care if underserving students in their group also get an A. They are focused on themselves. Many a times they will complete the project way ahead of time and email to the rest of the group and NO ONE ever gives any feedback on what needs to be improved etc.

In other words, your child doesn't know how to work with a group, which is the point of the project.

No. My kid knows not to waste time. Most of the kids in his group are slackers who don't have a very bright future ahead of them. The group project is not going to be a transformative or life changing experience for the slackers. They are happy that they don't have to work and they think it is a win that they got an Easy A. The truth is that getting that A will not change their lives. They remain low achieving students. And to get an A because someone else worked for it probably is not a great feeling when they see it on their report card filled with Cs and Ds. Unfortunately, these are not kids who are good in anything else. Not only they are not good in studies, they are also not good in sports, painting, cooking, singing...nothing. It is like they have no interest and just wasting time.

Given how you condescending you come across when describing other students, your kid might come across the same way...meaning they really are not good in groups. As a hard worker, I hated group projects as well. But you need to learn to deal with people---it comes in handy.

I am not that poster and work in a field where I typically work in groups. But public school is totally different. If I had colleagues that were totally incompetent, refuses to show up for meetings, refused to do any part of the job, I would get them fired. There is literally no recourse for this in public schools. I hate the group tests even more than the group projects — one group may have three kids that actually studied and they will do well; the other group may have one kid that studied and two that have done nothing and don’t care — if that group gets a B, the one student that worked probably deserves more credit than the three in the hard working group.