Message from Jack Smith about Grade Inflation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took my kid out of public school so she could understand the value of good grades. When something like 75-80% of her 5th grade class got all As and Bs between 3rd-5th grades, I knew I had made the right decision.

Hooray for you, I guess? I'm glad you're happy.

We moved.

Not all public systems are like MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe how delusional parents are when they see all A’s on their kid’s report cards and think how truly smart their kid is. When hundreds of kids are getting inducted into the NHS, you know something is up. But no one wants their Larla getting B’s or C’s so everyone seems okay with the inflation except the top kids. And since MCPS refuses to rank kids, it is really hard for colleges to accept the correct kids. Sometimes it is only the ACT or SAT, but most parents are paying top dollar to get their kids to ace this one test. Such a joke.

Have you met many such parents? I don't think that I've met any.

You don't talk to the parents of your kids' friends? As a teacher, I often bite my tongue. With friends who are or who were teachers, the truth is out there! But unless you see it with your own eyes and experience the pain of pushing kids to pass, an A is great!

My daughter would come home and laugh at the celebrations her MS would hold for kids with a 3.5 or better. She said it was something like 90% of the school. I would tell her to keep working for herself and to not compare grades. It's the learning that's important. I feared she would give up. After all, why work that hard to EARN an A when the kid next to you, working at half speed, is GIVEN an A, too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny, my sidwell friends high schooler neighbor was in robotics club and the school got him a $10k grant to work in the science contest robotic submarine plus found an indoor pool to work in it. He went ivy for ugrad and grad- in biochem.
That STEM kid worked his butt off but loved every second of it (high school at SFS). He turned down Blair magnet, plus other private schools.

A ton of kids in every middle school in Anne Arundel County do SeaPerch (an underwater robotic submarine contest) and use the public school's indoor pool for their testing. And they don't even need someone to get them a grant.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure how MCPS avoids investigation after PG county was busted as well as DC. Also, they don't teach you about this grade inflation in graduate school so it's tough for teachers to grasp it until it's too late and they force you out. MCEA could care less. Some students get A's for absence, never showing up, no tests. The excuse from admin-they have a lot going on in their lives. This corruption is top down.

[Anonymous]

My MCPS colleague was so upset about being compelled to give credit recovery opportunities and fake passing grades that she literally took a new job in an elementary school instead of a high school. That’s saying something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an MCPS parent, I would be willing to pay for my HS student to take a final exam on a weekend. Can this option be available to parents who care for and want this final exam?

To make it equitable - do not include this result in GPA and parents can fundraise for any non-paying FARMS students who want to take the test.

+1. The question of grades really is distinct from whether we should have final exams. Students need to learn how to take final exams and to maintain a grasp of what is learned over the course of a year. We are doing them a disservice by not making sure they have these experiences.

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Is there any traction to the idea of the return of final exams?

[Anonymous]

I’m not so sure about this ... there are a lot of rigorous classes and hard graders at our MCPS school. And the kids do really well in college compared to kids from other high schools around the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not so sure about this ... there are a lot of rigorous classes and hard graders at our MCPS school. And the kids do really well in college compared to kids from other high schools around the country.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not so sure about this ... there are a lot of rigorous classes and hard graders at our MCPS school. And the kids do really well in college compared to kids from other high schools around the country.

How do you know that Montgomery County students do better at college than students from other parts of the country? Is there data?