How much grade inflation is there in elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

[Anonymous]

In ES, A means you met the grade-level standard, not that your kid was extraordinary.

[Anonymous]

That is my understanding of standards based grading through out the years. "A" does not mean outstanding. It means you met the criteria. Once you get that, you will have an easier time accepting that it does not mean your child at the top of his class or Harvard bound.

[Anonymous]

In high school - my child is marked present when he is not in class and he has received full credit for assignments he didn’t do. Anything to pass him through with flying colors.

Grade inflation happens at all levels in MCPS, especially for children with disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

[Anonymous]

I personally think my kids' teachers are hard graders, especially in writing. And in math, my second grader gets marked down to a B if she doesn't put a line through the number when borrowing in subtraction, even though everything is done correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In high school - my child is marked present when he is not in class and he has received full credit for assignments he didn’t do. Anything to pass him through with flying colors.

Grade inflation happens at all levels in MCPS, especially for children with disabilities.

BS

[Anonymous]

We made our kid retake a class after receiving a B+ they absolutely didn't earn.

Got a B+ again but at least now they know the material...

[Anonymous]

It depends somewhat on the school. Schools with parents who are more likely to create a stink (Bethesda/Potomac applies) inflate grades more than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends somewhat on the school. Schools with parents who are more likely to create a stink (Bethesda/Potomac applies) inflate grades more than others.

I’m the 15:26 poster. My child is at a W high school with an IEP. Grades are inflated so they can say that he is making progress towards goals and objectives on his IEP. I wish they would hold him to the curriculum because he is being denied an education.

I’ve kept copies of examples because we are taking MCPS to Due Process. Teachers and staff will be subpoenaed. Let them explain why there’s full credit for assignments even my child says he never did.

[Anonymous]

I feel like it depends on the teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

I would ask to skip grades. Classes maybe too easy for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally think my kids' teachers are hard graders, especially in writing. And in math, my second grader gets marked down to a B if she doesn't put a line through the number when borrowing in subtraction, even though everything is done correctly.

My DC's teachers also grade hard with writing assignments but I don't mind it. I don't ever see my kid earning an A but think his writing is improving. He is at Cabin John. Had a similar experience with my eldest who graduated from Robert Frost. Maybe it is your school? Where are you? Maybe compared to others in his class, your kid is a shining star.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In high school - my child is marked present when he is not in class and he has received full credit for assignments he didn’t do. Anything to pass him through with flying colors.

Grade inflation happens at all levels in MCPS, especially for children with disabilities.

BS

What school is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.