Superintendent Taylor admits there is grade inflation in MCPS during BoE meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It always seems like so much time is dedicated toward data when the open secret in education is that the data is usually falsely inflated(grades) and falsely deflated (incidents) so what exactly are data meetings accomplishing? Making sure all teachers are doing their diligence making up numbers that make admin look good only? This sucks for us bc admin is usually making up bad reviews on us teachers to make us feel low morale and powerless.

BINGO!

[Anonymous]

As a parent, I am wondering what do they mean by grade inflation in Math?
How is it done and who does it help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The mealy mouthed education speak word salad nonsense from central office staff

How much money do these people make?

Most of those people in Central Office comfortably make 6 figures. I'm sure she makes at least $100,000.

MCPS salary schedules are online. Your guess of 100K is not even close.
You will be shocked to see how much money principals and teachers make at MCPS. This is in addition to all the support that they were talking about at this meeting.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/fy25_mcea_12-month_salary_schedules_eff_7.1.24.pdf
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/fy25_mcaap_salary_schedules_eff_7.1.24.pdf

I felt that its was a mistake to elect Lynn to the BOE. She brings no value.

[Anonymous]

Are you saying that teachers shouldn’t make this much?

[Anonymous]

Lynne hasn't been on the board since 12/1.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The mealy mouthed education speak word salad nonsense from central office staff

How much money do these people make?

Most of those people in Central Office comfortably make 6 figures. I'm sure she makes at least $100,000.

MCPS salary schedules are online. Your guess of 100K is not even close.
You will be shocked to see how much money principals and teachers make at MCPS. This is in addition to all the support that they were talking about at this meeting.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/fy25_mcea_12-month_salary_schedules_eff_7.1.24.pdf
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/fy25_mcaap_salary_schedules_eff_7.1.24.pdf

I felt that its was a mistake to elect Lynn to the BOE. She brings no value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I am wondering what do they mean by grade inflation in Math?
How is it done and who does it help?

NP here - 22 years in MCPS in MS for 10 and HS for 12 years.

The primary grade inflation for all subjects is the overly generous semester grade scheme (AB=A) combined with generous grading on assignments. When you look closer at those low "A"s (89.5-90.5), they happen because of generous retake and late work policy, combined with projects or assignments that are really for completion but get put in the all tasks category.

Now add in the counselor/admin expectation that all kids should be allowed to take any course they want to try, even if they really aren't ready for it for various reasons (skills, work ethic, background content). When those kids struggle, it's definitely the fault of the teacher, which leads to those generous/flexible assignments. I am teaching an Honors course now where almost all the students getting As would have had Cs 10 years ago - same curriculum. But I've had to simplify assignments, do more leading kids through an assignment (rather than them being able to work independently), lower expectations on tests, and cut out several rich learning activities each quarter. Flip side - I occasionally try to pull a creative, open ended activity that I used successfully in middle school with 6th & 7th graders 15 years ago only to realize that my current 11th and 12th graders can't do it without heavily modifying it and telling them step by step what to do. It is depressing. Low expectations and lack of rigor over the years adds up. Parents and students expect high grades, but with minimal effort. If something is too hard, again, the teacher is a bad teacher. Can't put them in the right level course because that will cause DC to have anxiety if they aren't with their "peers", but also, can't expect them to put in the work, because that is causing them anxiety, but also, their low grade is causing them anxiety so can we just excuse a bunch of the assignments.

We don't have standards based grading. Never have had it - parents want the gold star "A" without understanding that it has no intrinsic meaning anymore. The only courses that come close are AP or IB courses, because there is an external measure (test) at the end to hold students accountable for learning something. The removal of final exams 9(?) years ago was the death knell for Honors classes.

The three changes I think would help with both motivating students and more accurately representing understanding are:
1. Use numerical % for each quarter and average for the final semester grade.
2. Add in +/- to grades. It would really help distinguish between students, which will keep many of them working hard all semester.
3. Bring back county-wide final exams, but only for Honors Courses. In order to keep the Honors designation, students have to pass the final exam with at least a 60% (D) and it gets factored into your semester grade. If you don't pass, the course is not designated as Honors and the grade is just the average of the two quarters.

[Anonymous]

I also think final exams helped

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were grades inflated in Q1 of Taylor's first year?

How would he have changed it? MCPS is a system of schools. The principals get leeway to do whatever they want. CO offers guidelines and policies but enforcement is nonexistent.

And the bolded is the problem. If the system wants to grant principals a large amount of leeway to do what they want (which isn’t always a bad thing) then the principals and their staff need be held to account for mastery of standards, achievement of proficient scores, performance of staff, and innovation. Otherwise, there needs to be a lot more standardization of implementation and practices so there can be effective measurement on what is working and what is not.

Principals could start by having their teachers enter grades on time, not after they are due. It could help curb grade inflation. Students may submit assignments on time, but teachers haven't entered scores so grades are not accurate.

I work 14-15 hours every weekend. I work an additional 2-3 hours every weekend night. And guess what? I STILL can’t stay on top of this job.

Perhaps you can ask principals to make the job more sustainable. Maybe you can ask them to provide us with time at work to grade and plan. Considering these are essential parts of our job, it’s alarming that we receive almost no time during the work week to get it done.

You are relying on teachers to give up their own health and home lives in order to have things done in a timely fashion. And I’ve been doing that for you for over a decade. I’m growing increasingly resentful and slowing down, and eventually I’ll quit like so many others.

So perhaps asking for more blood from stone isn’t your best option.

As parents, we come and go. We are only here for a few years. You are here for your entire careers.
It is lunacy that you're grading for classes with 30+ kids in them.
This is a wealthy district with billions of dollars.
Your work should be half because your classes should be half.
But you need to fight for that with your union who will fight on your behalf. Parents aren't going to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I am wondering what do they mean by grade inflation in Math?
How is it done and who does it help?

NP here - 22 years in MCPS in MS for 10 and HS for 12 years.

The primary grade inflation for all subjects is the overly generous semester grade scheme (AB=A) combined with generous grading on assignments. When you look closer at those low "A"s (89.5-90.5), they happen because of generous retake and late work policy, combined with projects or assignments that are really for completion but get put in the all tasks category.

Now add in the counselor/admin expectation that all kids should be allowed to take any course they want to try, even if they really aren't ready for it for various reasons (skills, work ethic, background content). When those kids struggle, it's definitely the fault of the teacher, which leads to those generous/flexible assignments. I am teaching an Honors course now where almost all the students getting As would have had Cs 10 years ago - same curriculum. But I've had to simplify assignments, do more leading kids through an assignment (rather than them being able to work independently), lower expectations on tests, and cut out several rich learning activities each quarter. Flip side - I occasionally try to pull a creative, open ended activity that I used successfully in middle school with 6th & 7th graders 15 years ago only to realize that my current 11th and 12th graders can't do it without heavily modifying it and telling them step by step what to do. It is depressing. Low expectations and lack of rigor over the years adds up. Parents and students expect high grades, but with minimal effort. If something is too hard, again, the teacher is a bad teacher. Can't put them in the right level course because that will cause DC to have anxiety if they aren't with their "peers", but also, can't expect them to put in the work, because that is causing them anxiety, but also, their low grade is causing them anxiety so can we just excuse a bunch of the assignments.

We don't have standards based grading. Never have had it - parents want the gold star "A" without understanding that it has no intrinsic meaning anymore. The only courses that come close are AP or IB courses, because there is an external measure (test) at the end to hold students accountable for learning something. The removal of final exams 9(?) years ago was the death knell for Honors classes.

The three changes I think would help with both motivating students and more accurately representing understanding are:
1. Use numerical % for each quarter and average for the final semester grade.
2. Add in +/- to grades. It would really help distinguish between students, which will keep many of them working hard all semester.
3. Bring back county-wide final exams, but only for Honors Courses. In order to keep the Honors designation, students have to pass the final exam with at least a 60% (D) and it gets factored into your semester grade. If you don't pass, the course is not designated as Honors and the grade is just the average of the two quarters.

At our school kids cannot have retakes except on a rare assignment, never tests. Its very inconsistent teacher to teacher and school to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a parent, I am wondering what do they mean by grade inflation in Math?
How is it done and who does it help?

NP here - 22 years in MCPS in MS for 10 and HS for 12 years.

The primary grade inflation for all subjects is the overly generous semester grade scheme (AB=A) combined with generous grading on assignments. When you look closer at those low "A"s (89.5-90.5), they happen because of generous retake and late work policy, combined with projects or assignments that are really for completion but get put in the all tasks category.

Now add in the counselor/admin expectation that all kids should be allowed to take any course they want to try, even if they really aren't ready for it for various reasons (skills, work ethic, background content). When those kids struggle, it's definitely the fault of the teacher, which leads to those generous/flexible assignments. I am teaching an Honors course now where almost all the students getting As would have had Cs 10 years ago - same curriculum. But I've had to simplify assignments, do more leading kids through an assignment (rather than them being able to work independently), lower expectations on tests, and cut out several rich learning activities each quarter. Flip side - I occasionally try to pull a creative, open ended activity that I used successfully in middle school with 6th & 7th graders 15 years ago only to realize that my current 11th and 12th graders can't do it without heavily modifying it and telling them step by step what to do. It is depressing. Low expectations and lack of rigor over the years adds up. Parents and students expect high grades, but with minimal effort. If something is too hard, again, the teacher is a bad teacher. Can't put them in the right level course because that will cause DC to have anxiety if they aren't with their "peers", but also, can't expect them to put in the work, because that is causing them anxiety, but also, their low grade is causing them anxiety so can we just excuse a bunch of the assignments.

We don't have standards based grading. Never have had it - parents want the gold star "A" without understanding that it has no intrinsic meaning anymore. The only courses that come close are AP or IB courses, because there is an external measure (test) at the end to hold students accountable for learning something. The removal of final exams 9(?) years ago was the death knell for Honors classes.

The three changes I think would help with both motivating students and more accurately representing understanding are:
1. Use numerical % for each quarter and average for the final semester grade.
2. Add in +/- to grades. It would really help distinguish between students, which will keep many of them working hard all semester.
3. Bring back county-wide final exams, but only for Honors Courses. In order to keep the Honors designation, students have to pass the final exam with at least a 60% (D) and it gets factored into your semester grade. If you don't pass, the course is not designated as Honors and the grade is just the average of the two quarters.

I hope you will consider testifying at an upcoming BOE hearing.

[Anonymous]

The reason they got rid of final exams has to do with the rubrics and teaching to the test. The high flyers who got As all semesters (including those with 89.6) figured put they could get a 54 on the final exam and keep their As.

54s on final exams are not a good look, and so, no more final exams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason they got rid of final exams has to do with the rubrics and teaching to the test. The high flyers who got As all semesters (including those with 89.6) figured put they could get a 54 on the final exam and keep their As.

54s on final exams are not a good look, and so, no more final exams

Interesting. So kids were using the final exams to game the grades in the opposite way of what they're doing now.

Just goes to show that MCPS sucks at its jobs and can't come up with solutions that get to the root of the problem and anticipates loopholes in their shoddily constructed policies.

[Anonymous]

MCPS looks at grades and compares them to MCAP scores. They wonder how can a student get an A/B in middle school math and then wonder how they are a level 1 or 2 on MCAP. They don't seem to understand that many students know that MCAP means nothing to them (except for the few that are tied with graduation requirements), and therefore they don't put forth their best effort. Not to mention that MCAP doesn't align with the MCPS curriculum. So, they are now putting pressure on teachers to teach to the test (which goes against everything we have ever been taught). Oh, by they don't offer any resources for this. So teachers are left making their own resources. I guess the curriculum specialist who get paid big money can't do and teachers with no training on curriculum development are left to make stuff up. If they want us to teach to the test, they should provide a curriculum that aligns with MCAP.

Oh, but Pearson keeps changing the test, so MCPS needs to change the curriculum. All of this is money in someone's pocket.

This is not to say that there isn't grade inflation, but just something else to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason they got rid of final exams has to do with the rubrics and teaching to the test. The high flyers who got As all semesters (including those with 89.6) figured put they could get a 54 on the final exam and keep their As.

54s on final exams are not a good look, and so, no more final exams

Interesting. So kids were using the final exams to game the grades in the opposite way of what they're doing now.

Just goes to show that MCPS sucks at its jobs and can't come up with solutions that get to the root of the problem and anticipates loopholes in their shoddily constructed policies.

Agree, only include exams if they are meaningful. I'd like to see them move to year-long classes and have each marking period percentage (not grade) and the final exam percentage (not grade) count 20% toward the course grade. I know, I'm dreaming.

[Anonymous]

They should inflate teacher appraisals to show that they are appreciated and to give off a less punitive vibe for teachers who work double overtime for low wages. Much of the time we cannot help or choose our students so if the students are gangsters it's really not the teachers fault. The union and admin should support us not try to disgrace and blame us.