My average/somewhat slacker 6th grader got straight As...WTH???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the complaint that the standards for grading the work are too low or that the work itself isn't challenging enough?

I find this a relevant question. If the work is challenging and the kids are learning, is it really a problem that the grades are inflated? IMO many of the parents just want bragging rights and do not like their super bright kids mixed in with everyone else when it comes to recognition. MY DD is in 8th grade non-W school where less than 10% of kids get straight A. She has all "A" except one B in middle school. Believe me, I know that she is not a top tier kid like yours. She struggles to pick things up in virtually every subject but works really hard. She goes in for help at lunch just about every day. The work is plenty challenging for her. As long as parent are complaining because they think the work is not challenging enough for their kids, fine, valid complaint. But if it is just because the system is not differentiating that your kid is smarter than mine-- get a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the complaint that the standards for grading the work are too low or that the work itself isn't challenging enough?

I find this a relevant question. If the work is challenging and the kids are learning, is it really a problem that the grades are inflated? IMO many of the parents just want bragging rights and do not like their super bright kids mixed in with everyone else when it comes to recognition. MY DD is in 8th grade non-W school where less than 10% of kids get straight A. She has all "A" except one B in middle school. Believe me, I know that she is not a top tier kid like yours. She struggles to pick things up in virtually every subject but works really hard. She goes in for help at lunch just about every day. The work is plenty challenging for her. As long as parent are complaining because they think the work is not challenging enough for their kids, fine, valid complaint. But if it is just because the system is not differentiating that your kid is smarter than mine-- get a life.

If the work was challenging and the grading wasn't easy, more kids would actually pass state and county-wide exams than fail them. But for MCPS they fail miserably and then get rid of them so no one notices how awful they teach anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the complaint that the standards for grading the work are too low or that the work itself isn't challenging enough?

I find this a relevant question. If the work is challenging and the kids are learning, is it really a problem that the grades are inflated? IMO many of the parents just want bragging rights and do not like their super bright kids mixed in with everyone else when it comes to recognition. MY DD is in 8th grade non-W school where less than 10% of kids get straight A. She has all "A" except one B in middle school. Believe me, I know that she is not a top tier kid like yours. She struggles to pick things up in virtually every subject but works really hard. She goes in for help at lunch just about every day. The work is plenty challenging for her. As long as parent are complaining because they think the work is not challenging enough for their kids, fine, valid complaint. But if it is just because the system is not differentiating that your kid is smarter than mine-- get a life.

My main concern is that the work is not challenging enough to prepare for a smooth transition to HS. But also, because the grading is homogenized it's hard to recognize when a problem exists or that the child is excelling. I'd be satisfied seeing a B in a class if it represents hard work in a challenging subject, but if in reality the teacher is telling me my child is struggling, I need the memo on that. (This is exactly the word, one of my DCs teachers used at conferences with an 85% in the class?!? Having had one child through the same school I already knew to be alarmed by a B and wasn't surprised to hear this, but if 85% indicates struggling, doesn't 90% mean average? That's what this thread is about for me.) If parents should be expecting mostly As and the occasional B when the child hits a stumbling block, we kinda need to know these are the rules of the game.

[Anonymous]

Grade inflation remains a problem in college. I teach in a local college and I find that students expect As and Bs and are very disappointed if they get a C or less. A C is supposed to be an average grade, a B is good and an A is excellent. The majority of students cannot be excellent in mixed ability classes.
I have a kid in a W school and one in a magnet program and there is a big difference. The magnet child has to work super hard to get an A in magnet classes and is generally satisfied with a B. A B reflects good work and he should be satisfied with that. The grades are meaningful because they reflect effort AND ability. There are times he gets a B despite working very hard and we always encourage him to focus on the fact that he put forth his best effort and should be proud of that regardless of the outcome. Getting an A is not something you take for granted.
The kid in the W school gets straight As with very little effort. The assignments are not as challenging and the expectations are lower. I know of parents who will email the teacher when their kid does not do well. I suspect there might be pressure on the teachers to give their students good grades in these schools. Now what happens when these kids get to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation remains a problem in college. I teach in a local college and I find that students expect As and Bs and are very disappointed if they get a C or less. A C is supposed to be an average grade, a B is good and an A is excellent. The majority of students cannot be excellent in mixed ability classes.
I have a kid in a W school and one in a magnet program and there is a big difference. The magnet child has to work super hard to get an A in magnet classes and is generally satisfied with a B. A B reflects good work and he should be satisfied with that. The grades are meaningful because they reflect effort AND ability. There are times he gets a B despite working very hard and we always encourage him to focus on the fact that he put forth his best effort and should be proud of that regardless of the outcome. Getting an A is not something you take for granted.
The kid in the W school gets straight As with very little effort. The assignments are not as challenging and the expectations are lower. I know of parents who will email the teacher when their kid does not do well. I suspect there might be pressure on the teachers to give their students good grades in these schools. Now what happens when these kids get to college?

Is it a MS magnet or HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation remains a problem in college. I teach in a local college and I find that students expect As and Bs and are very disappointed if they get a C or less. A C is supposed to be an average grade, a B is good and an A is excellent. The majority of students cannot be excellent in mixed ability classes.
I have a kid in a W school and one in a magnet program and there is a big difference. The magnet child has to work super hard to get an A in magnet classes and is generally satisfied with a B. A B reflects good work and he should be satisfied with that. The grades are meaningful because they reflect effort AND ability. There are times he gets a B despite working very hard and we always encourage him to focus on the fact that he put forth his best effort and should be proud of that regardless of the outcome. Getting an A is not something you take for granted.
The kid in the W school gets straight As with very little effort. The assignments are not as challenging and the expectations are lower. I know of parents who will email the teacher when their kid does not do well. I suspect there might be pressure on the teachers to give their students good grades in these schools. Now what happens when these kids get to college?

Is it a MS magnet or HS? My ms magnet kid works very hard in one of his classes to get a B. My younger child who is in an HGC gets Is and works hard to get Ps. It's amazing the differences between magnets and non magnet schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework is only 10% of the grade. It's the summarized and formatives that really matter.

Those can be dumbed down or graded laxly, too.

Yes. But if the student is doing the homework (even if not well) it really comes down to how he does on the summarizes and formatives.

Summative's can include projects done outside of school which can be as much of a completion grade as regular homework. If you're saying grades can't be inflated because 90% is based on testing, I disagree. Because of projects and also, there are retake opportunities. Taking the time to retake work is admirable, still achieving 100% on a 2 question math quiz on the second attempt is not the same as maintaining a 90% average on chapter tests throughout a quarter.

I'm not sure my kid has ever had a re-take opportunity; or at least she's not letting me know if she does. Once last year in 6th she asked the teacher about it, and the teacher said that she didn't do retakes; not sure how common this is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation remains a problem in college. I teach in a local college and I find that students expect As and Bs and are very disappointed if they get a C or less. A C is supposed to be an average grade, a B is good and an A is excellent. The majority of students cannot be excellent in mixed ability classes.
I have a kid in a W school and one in a magnet program and there is a big difference. The magnet child has to work super hard to get an A in magnet classes and is generally satisfied with a B. A B reflects good work and he should be satisfied with that. The grades are meaningful because they reflect effort AND ability. There are times he gets a B despite working very hard and we always encourage him to focus on the fact that he put forth his best effort and should be proud of that regardless of the outcome. Getting an A is not something you take for granted.
The kid in the W school gets straight As with very little effort. The assignments are not as challenging and the expectations are lower. I know of parents who will email the teacher when their kid does not do well. I suspect there might be pressure on the teachers to give their students good grades in these schools. Now what happens when these kids get to college?

Is it a MS magnet or HS? My ms magnet kid works very hard in one of his classes to get a B. My younger child who is in an HGC gets Is and works hard to get Ps. It's amazing the differences between magnets and non magnet schools.

My kid has a similar experience. I think it is good - it will make them more resilient when they get to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation remains a problem in college. I teach in a local college and I find that students expect As and Bs and are very disappointed if they get a C or less. A C is supposed to be an average grade, a B is good and an A is excellent. The majority of students cannot be excellent in mixed ability classes.
I have a kid in a W school and one in a magnet program and there is a big difference. The magnet child has to work super hard to get an A in magnet classes and is generally satisfied with a B. A B reflects good work and he should be satisfied with that. The grades are meaningful because they reflect effort AND ability. There are times he gets a B despite working very hard and we always encourage him to focus on the fact that he put forth his best effort and should be proud of that regardless of the outcome. Getting an A is not something you take for granted.
The kid in the W school gets straight As with very little effort. The assignments are not as challenging and the expectations are lower. I know of parents who will email the teacher when their kid does not do well. I suspect there might be pressure on the teachers to give their students good grades in these schools. Now what happens when these kids get to college?

Is it a MS magnet or HS?

Both in MS. I think the magnet kid will end up with an outlook that will serve him better when he gets to college. I know it sounds strange but in the magnet classes, the teachers have high expectations for the students but the kids are less focused on grades and more on learning and stretching themselves to do the best work they can possibly do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know longer think of A as outstanding. It just means you followed the rubric and did what was asked.

You would be surprised how many kids do NOT know how to do that!