If you have a bright MCPS 3rd grader…

[Anonymous]

Are they earning all As on report cards?

It was my impression after chatting with the teacher and multiple other 3rd grade parents at our school that literally nobody makes straight As. The nature of the grading system makes it very difficult. I was fine with it. No big deal.

Then today I was chatting with a friend who has a 3rd grader at a different mcps school and got a totally different perspective. She made it seem like any kid who’s working hard gets coached along in class if they need it and they’re all getting straight As.

So is my school being too hard on kids? Or is her school being too soft? Is it even possible that two mcps schools could approach grading so differently?

[Anonymous]

My relatively bright kid got almost all straight As (with a couple of Bs after the pandemic) throughout elementary school both in a home school and CES. Middle school has been a little harder, but that's due to ADHD and executive function.

[Anonymous]

My DC got almost all straight A's as a third-grader but not all straight A's.

[Anonymous]

Okay, thank you. So far this aligns with what parents at my school say. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are they earning all As on report cards?

It was my impression after chatting with the teacher and multiple other 3rd grade parents at our school that literally nobody makes straight As. The nature of the grading system makes it very difficult. I was fine with it. No big deal.

Then today I was chatting with a friend who has a 3rd grader at a different mcps school and got a totally different perspective. She made it seem like any kid who’s working hard gets coached along in class if they need it and they’re all getting straight As.

So is my school being too hard on kids? Or is her school being too soft? Is it even possible that two mcps schools could approach grading so differently?

Different teachers within the same exact school can and do approach grading differently. I have twins with very similar baseline academic strengths. There have been years that one elem teacher offers re-takes and the other doesn’t. Or one requires all work to be completed in class and the other allows students to finish up at home if they ran out of time. Or one follows the curriculum and the other doesn’t really do so (sometimes for the better, sometimes not). Or one has 20 graded assignments and the other has only 8, which makes each one count more. I’ve found for my own kids, who are bright and don’t tend to struggle academically, that their grades ultimately just reflect how strict a grader the teacher happens to be, not their understanding of the material.

[Anonymous]

When DC was in 3rd grade a couple of years ago, they consistently got straight A's. Their 4th grade CES teacher said they were one of 3 kids to get straight A's in their class one quarter. I don't think school is especially objective in early ES so may just be a function of the teacher too.

[Anonymous]

If you meet the on-level standard in ES, you get an A. Kids who are not at grade level get a lower grade. At our school, not everyone gets an A in every class. I do think teachers spend most of their time trying to help kids who are below grade level meet the standard, but they don't succeed with everyone so there are kids who don't get all As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When DC was in 3rd grade a couple of years ago, they consistently got straight A's. Their 4th grade CES teacher said they were one of 3 kids to get straight A's in their class one quarter. I don't think school is especially objective in early ES so may just be a function of the teacher too.

+1 grading is subjective for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are they earning all As on report cards?

It was my impression after chatting with the teacher and multiple other 3rd grade parents at our school that literally nobody makes straight As. The nature of the grading system makes it very difficult. I was fine with it. No big deal.

Then today I was chatting with a friend who has a 3rd grader at a different mcps school and got a totally different perspective. She made it seem like any kid who’s working hard gets coached along in class if they need it and they’re all getting straight As.

So is my school being too hard on kids? Or is her school being too soft? Is it even possible that two mcps schools could approach grading so differently?

Different teachers within the same exact school can and do approach grading differently. I have twins with very similar baseline academic strengths. There have been years that one elem teacher offers re-takes and the other doesn’t. Or one requires all work to be completed in class and the other allows students to finish up at home if they ran out of time. Or one follows the curriculum and the other doesn’t really do so (sometimes for the better, sometimes not). Or one has 20 graded assignments and the other has only 8, which makes each one count more. I’ve found for my own kids, who are bright and don’t tend to struggle academically, that their grades ultimately just reflect how strict a grader the teacher happens to be, not their understanding of the material.

+1 Also a mom to twins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you meet the on-level standard in ES, you get an A. Kids who are not at grade level get a lower grade. At our school, not everyone gets an A in every class. I do think teachers spend most of their time trying to help kids who are below grade level meet the standard, but they don't succeed with everyone so there are kids who don't get all As.

A kid with 99% on MAP in math somehow got a B in 2nd-grade math. My sense is the teacher just hands out worksheets and doesn't want to be bothered with explaining anything.

[Anonymous]

Our 3rd grade DC has always been straight A's. Recent MAP scores were 98 percentile (Math) and 96 percentile (Reading)

[Anonymous]

My kid doesn’t make straight As. Mostly As. 99th percentile on MAP tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you meet the on-level standard in ES, you get an A. Kids who are not at grade level get a lower grade. At our school, not everyone gets an A in every class. I do think teachers spend most of their time trying to help kids who are below grade level meet the standard, but they don't succeed with everyone so there are kids who don't get all As.

This isn’t true at all. Plenty of kids who are on or even above grade level don’t get straight As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you meet the on-level standard in ES, you get an A. Kids who are not at grade level get a lower grade. At our school, not everyone gets an A in every class. I do think teachers spend most of their time trying to help kids who are below grade level meet the standard, but they don't succeed with everyone so there are kids who don't get all As.

This isn’t true at all. Plenty of kids who are on or even above grade level don’t get straight As.

In my experience, it can be pretty random, especially in early ES. Often there are no objective metrics, and I've never even seen a grade book used, unlike the higher grades. I've often joked that they just roll a die at the end of the quarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you meet the on-level standard in ES, you get an A. Kids who are not at grade level get a lower grade. At our school, not everyone gets an A in every class. I do think teachers spend most of their time trying to help kids who are below grade level meet the standard, but they don't succeed with everyone so there are kids who don't get all As.

This isn’t true at all. Plenty of kids who are on or even above grade level don’t get straight As.

In my experience, it can be pretty random, especially in early ES. Often there are no objective metrics, and I've never even seen a grade book used, unlike the higher grades. I've often joked that they just roll a die at the end of the quarter.

I'd pay more attention to MAP percentiles to get an idea of what they've learned.