Colleges Flagging MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If we were looking for solutions, what do we think MCPS should do when it comes to grading?

Create year-long courses, add pluses and minuses to the grading, and have the final grade be the average of the four marking period percentage.

Offer on level and honors for all core classes. None of this honors for all in English, social studies, and science.

This is really the answer. What a shock it would be!

Or at least offer more Honors for All classes! It's so wonderful to boost everyone to a higher standard.

I am not sure how they would offer more honors for all. Next year at BCC even biology is honors for all.

Damn you, Poe's Law!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

I agree as another teacher of a core subject. The 50% allows students who shouldn’t pass, pass. This is not good. It’s a band-aid until they graduate and then they aren’t the problem of the school system. When in turn, it’s extremely detrimental to the student. They think it’s a game to figure out what assignments they can complete so they can “pass’”. It makes it even more difficult to identify students who need help - because now the student, the family, and the school believes the student is actually meeting standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

I find this hard to believe. MCPS, in my experience, is primarily concerned about the bottom 20%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

I agree as another teacher of a core subject. The 50% allows students who shouldn’t pass, pass. This is not good. It’s a band-aid until they graduate and then they aren’t the problem of the school system. When in turn, it’s extremely detrimental to the student. They think it’s a game to figure out what assignments they can complete so they can “pass’”. It makes it even more difficult to identify students who need help - because now the student, the family, and the school believes the student is actually meeting standard.

If you're a teacher, then you also know the 50% rule was abolished months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the goal of school to have students learn and demonstrate learning? If so, does it matter if there's a retake?

It matters because it makes my child look less competitive.

DP. The bigger problem is that kids can score low and still get an A. In what works is a 79.5 plus 89.5 an A?

In the world where people learn about rounding up.
Try it

Even if you round up, that is an 85, which is a B.

Any .5 is rounded up.
A 79.5 for MP1 rounds to an 80, which is a B, or 3 quality points.
An 89.5 for MP2 rounds to a 90, which is an A, or 4 quality points.
For a total of 7 quality points for the semester, divided by 2 is 3.5, which rounds up to 4, which is an A.

That seems fair. Maybe these kids need to sign up for harder classes.

No, this is ridiculous on a 4 point scale. No precision, which is exactly what people are complaining about. A low B and a low A average to a B.

There's just a B and an A to be averaged. You have to round up or down. It's pretty standard practice to round up at .5

What law says they have to round to a whole number? FCPS doesn't.

I'm personally in favor of 4.0 for all, not because I think it's right, but because I'm an accelerationist and GPA is a fundamentally unworkable concept of a false metric that need to be eliminated.

They have to round to a whole grade. The choices are A or B. MCPS doesn't have pluses or minuses.

MCPS should have pluses and minuses. DCPS has them. Many school districts have them

The problem isn’t even plus and minus; it’s disregarding the actual numbers and focusing on quality points instead. They shouldn’t be adding 3+4 and dividing by two. They should be adding the numbers. They They shouldn’t be adding 3+4 and dividing by two. They should be adding the numbers that got them the three and the four in the first place.

So you would want there to be just two marking periods, each a semester in length.

No, we want the county to add the quarterly 79.5 and 89.5 and divide by 2, resulting in a semester average of 84.5 and a semester grade of B.

Not: rounding the 79.5 to a B and the 89.5 to an A. Then, converting those to 3 and 4. Then, averaging those to 3.5. Then, rounding up to a 4. Then, assigning a semester grade of A.

Once a marking period ends, they assign a letter grade. They could round down and assign a C and a B to those numbers instead, but then they would still have to combine those into a semester grade.

Actually my daughter’s private school does one semester grade, not two marking periods. It makes making an A so much harder and I’ll bet the colleges know this. Our school has great college admissions. And kids need a 93 to get an A. 25% of our graduates go to T25 colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

I agree as another teacher of a core subject. The 50% allows students who shouldn’t pass, pass. This is not good. It’s a band-aid until they graduate and then they aren’t the problem of the school system. When in turn, it’s extremely detrimental to the student. They think it’s a game to figure out what assignments they can complete so they can “pass’”. It makes it even more difficult to identify students who need help - because now the student, the family, and the school believes the student is actually meeting standard.

If you're a teacher, then you also know the 50% rule was abolished months ago.

Tell that to my admin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

BS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

I agree as another teacher of a core subject. The 50% allows students who shouldn’t pass, pass. This is not good. It’s a band-aid until they graduate and then they aren’t the problem of the school system. When in turn, it’s extremely detrimental to the student. They think it’s a game to figure out what assignments they can complete so they can “pass’”. It makes it even more difficult to identify students who need help - because now the student, the family, and the school believes the student is actually meeting standard.

If you're a teacher, then you also know the 50% rule was abolished months ago.

Tell that to my admin.

I would if I were also a resident of fantasy island.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Give zero’s for missing work that was not turned in or attempted. Instead of auto 50%

No one is getting A's because of this. Most likely, this helps a student bring their grade up to a D. If they really turn things around, a C. Stop with the hysteria over the 50%.

50% is an F. An F is an F, is an F.

No. The issue is that some kids will get do barely any work and get by with a E/D combos or a C/E combo in order to pass a class. I have heard it from students endlessly that last few years. Probably about 10% of my students. It makes teaching/learning impossible and pointless to the student.

-Teacher

I agree as another teacher of a core subject. The 50% allows students who shouldn’t pass, pass. This is not good. It’s a band-aid until they graduate and then they aren’t the problem of the school system. When in turn, it’s extremely detrimental to the student. They think it’s a game to figure out what assignments they can complete so they can “pass’”. It makes it even more difficult to identify students who need help - because now the student, the family, and the school believes the student is actually meeting standard.

If you're a teacher, then you also know the 50% rule was abolished months ago.

Tell that to my admin.

I would if I were also a resident of fantasy island.

Ok........not sure what your goal is here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges also have grade inflation

What I came to post. My college kids get retakes, option to drop, late options to hand in with a 10%penalty...etc

My kid is at W&M. Freshman were told at orientation that there are no retakes and all late work is 25% off. It is much harder to earn an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the goal of school to have students learn and demonstrate learning? If so, does it matter if there's a retake?

It matters because it makes my child look less competitive.

DP. The bigger problem is that kids can score low and still get an A. In what works is a 79.5 plus 89.5 an A?

In the world where people learn about rounding up.
Try it

Even if you round up, that is an 85, which is a B.

Any .5 is rounded up.
A 79.5 for MP1 rounds to an 80, which is a B, or 3 quality points.
An 89.5 for MP2 rounds to a 90, which is an A, or 4 quality points.
For a total of 7 quality points for the semester, divided by 2 is 3.5, which rounds up to 4, which is an A.

That seems fair. Maybe these kids need to sign up for harder classes.

No, this is ridiculous on a 4 point scale. No precision, which is exactly what people are complaining about. A low B and a low A average to a B.

There's just a B and an A to be averaged. You have to round up or down. It's pretty standard practice to round up at .5

What law says they have to round to a whole number? FCPS doesn't.

I'm personally in favor of 4.0 for all, not because I think it's right, but because I'm an accelerationist and GPA is a fundamentally unworkable concept of a false metric that need to be eliminated.

They have to round to a whole grade. The choices are A or B. MCPS doesn't have pluses or minuses.

MCPS should have pluses and minuses. DCPS has them. Many school districts have them

The problem isn’t even plus and minus; it’s disregarding the actual numbers and focusing on quality points instead. They shouldn’t be adding 3+4 and dividing by two. They should be adding the numbers. They They shouldn’t be adding 3+4 and dividing by two. They should be adding the numbers that got them the three and the four in the first place.

So you would want there to be just two marking periods, each a semester in length.

No, we want the county to add the quarterly 79.5 and 89.5 and divide by 2, resulting in a semester average of 84.5 and a semester grade of B.

Not: rounding the 79.5 to a B and the 89.5 to an A. Then, converting those to 3 and 4. Then, averaging those to 3.5. Then, rounding up to a 4. Then, assigning a semester grade of A.

Once a marking period ends, they assign a letter grade. They could round down and assign a C and a B to those numbers instead, but then they would still have to combine those into a semester grade.

Actually my daughter’s private school does one semester grade, not two marking periods. It makes making an A so much harder and I’ll bet the colleges know this. Our school has great college admissions. And kids need a 93 to get an A. 25% of our graduates go to T25 colleges.

Ok? Why are you on this MCPS thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the goal of school to have students learn and demonstrate learning? If so, does it matter if there's a retake?

It matters because it makes my child look less competitive.

DP. The bigger problem is that kids can score low and still get an A. In what works is a 79.5 plus 89.5 an A?

In the world where people learn about rounding up.
Try it

Even if you round up, that is an 85, which is a B.

Any .5 is rounded up.
A 79.5 for MP1 rounds to an 80, which is a B, or 3 quality points.
An 89.5 for MP2 rounds to a 90, which is an A, or 4 quality points.
For a total of 7 quality points for the semester, divided by 2 is 3.5, which rounds up to 4, which is an A.

That seems fair. Maybe these kids need to sign up for harder classes.

No, this is ridiculous on a 4 point scale. No precision, which is exactly what people are complaining about. A low B and a low A average to a B.

There's just a B and an A to be averaged. You have to round up or down. It's pretty standard practice to round up at .5

What law says they have to round to a whole number? FCPS doesn't.

I'm personally in favor of 4.0 for all, not because I think it's right, but because I'm an accelerationist and GPA is a fundamentally unworkable concept of a false metric that need to be eliminated.

They have to round to a whole grade. The choices are A or B. MCPS doesn't have pluses or minuses.

MCPS should have pluses and minuses. DCPS has them. Many school districts have them

Agree. But this wouldn't be nearly as much as an issue if MCPS gave final exams, which should count as one third of the grade. So low A, plus low B plus low B (for final), would equal a B for the semester. Keeps it somewhat more honest. This is the method my son's private school used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD came home today and told me that her teacher told her that grade inflation is really rampant in MCPS and that he is told to grade really leniently and that it is really hard for someone to fail. He says that it is so bad that colleges will flag an application once they see it is from MCPS and make sure to look deeper into what classes they took to see how rigorous it is to make sure they really deserved that 4.0 gpa. Not sure how true this is, has anyone else heard about this?

She was told wrong. This isn't a real problem. Please return to complaining about start times or toilet security...

This is an MCPS admin or someone from a W school whose kid takes 14 APs.