Required curricular tasks DCPS grading

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have an information on what would be a required curricular tasks that can be revised up to an A without the maximum C retake penalty?

Deal has not said anything about this except that all retakes are capped at 73, which seems inconsistent with the handbook (pg 4).

Feeling like this new policy is not understood or being applied properly. And also is really harsh because teaching the exact same way (auto-grading, very few assignments) when kids can retake vs when you can’t seems unfair. Maybe have effort participation count for more than 10%…

[Anonymous]

It is not at all clear....to be honest, it's a DCPS policy and should be answered by the school district. Maybe submit a request to the policy office?

[Anonymous]

I don’t see this year’s: https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/SY23-24%20DCPS%20Assessment%20Guide%20for%20Families_English.pdf

[Anonymous]

For my subject there are generally just 2 or 3 each year, and they are terribly written.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have an information on what would be a required curricular tasks that can be revised up to an A without the maximum C retake penalty?

Deal has not said anything about this except that all retakes are capped at 73, which seems inconsistent with the handbook (pg 4).

Feeling like this new policy is not understood or being applied properly. And also is really harsh because teaching the exact same way (auto-grading, very few assignments) when kids can retake vs when you can’t seems unfair. Maybe have effort participation count for more than 10%…

No participation should not be more than 10%. It’s a BS grade boost category already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have an information on what would be a required curricular tasks that can be revised up to an A without the maximum C retake penalty?

Deal has not said anything about this except that all retakes are capped at 73, which seems inconsistent with the handbook (pg 4).

Feeling like this new policy is not understood or being applied properly. And also is really harsh because teaching the exact same way (auto-grading, very few assignments) when kids can retake vs when you can’t seems unfair. Maybe have effort participation count for more than 10%…

There are very few RCTs per year. Your kid probably hasn’t had one yet. Everything else a retake is capped at a C.

[Anonymous]

Why are there even RCT’s? If you get a D or fail a test, that’s that. You need to be accountable just like in real life.

DCPS is already lenient in giving kids a 2nd chance to retake the test and I agree that it should be no higher than a C which is average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For my subject there are generally just 2 or 3 each year, and they are terribly written.

PP, I assume you are a teacher? Can you describe what a required curriculum task is? Does DCPS determine what (and how many) there are for every subject/class?

[Anonymous]

Just found this article:
https://educationdc.net/2021/11/10/a-dcps-teacher-who-helped-create-rcts-speaks-out/


My kid is at J-R and I'm pretty sure they have never had to do one of these...maybe they are more prevalent at some schools than others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are there even RCT’s? If you get a D or fail a test, that’s that. You need to be accountable just like in real life.

DCPS is already lenient in giving kids a 2nd chance to retake the test and I agree that it should be no higher than a C which is average.

GFY.

School is not real life. It’s training for real life. The goal is to learn. Not everyone gets things the first time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are there even RCT’s? If you get a D or fail a test, that’s that. You need to be accountable just like in real life.

DCPS is already lenient in giving kids a 2nd chance to retake the test and I agree that it should be no higher than a C which is average.

GFY.

School is not real life. It’s training for real life. The goal is to learn. Not everyone gets things the first time.

So you want to train your kid that failing a test because they did not learn it when they needed it to for the test. In addition, the assumption is that they failed to get help if needed from the teacher if they did not understand it. Then, they can take it again, get an C, then do other things in addition to finally get an A, just like the kid who actually mastered the material and got an A in the 1st place.

How is that like training for real life??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are there even RCT’s? If you get a D or fail a test, that’s that. You need to be accountable just like in real life.

DCPS is already lenient in giving kids a 2nd chance to retake the test and I agree that it should be no higher than a C which is average.

GFY.

School is not real life. It’s training for real life. The goal is to learn. Not everyone gets things the first time.

I actually think most middle class parents in DCPS only care about grades. It rarely seems to be about learning- it’s always a question of how can their kid improve their grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are there even RCT’s? If you get a D or fail a test, that’s that. You need to be accountable just like in real life.

DCPS is already lenient in giving kids a 2nd chance to retake the test and I agree that it should be no higher than a C which is average.

GFY.

School is not real life. It’s training for real life. The goal is to learn. Not everyone gets things the first time.

I actually think most middle class parents in DCPS only care about grades. It rarely seems to be about learning- it’s always a question of how can their kid improve their grade.

THIS. High grades are irrelevant when you have not learned or mastered the material, especially with such grade inflation in DCPS. Then at the higher level playing field, you can’t compete and sink or fail out.

I would much rather my kid work his ass off and get a B and have mastered the material then an inflated A and not. This is why you see the disconnect in AP scores of privates vs DCPS. Private school kids have lower grades and GPA and much higher AP scores where DCPS kids are the total opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are there even RCT’s? If you get a D or fail a test, that’s that. You need to be accountable just like in real life.

DCPS is already lenient in giving kids a 2nd chance to retake the test and I agree that it should be no higher than a C which is average.

The RCTs already existed. They didn't begin to exist because of this grading policy. Maybe you mean "why is there any assignment that students can redo and get an A?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For my subject there are generally just 2 or 3 each year, and they are terribly written.

PP, I assume you are a teacher? Can you describe what a required curriculum task is? Does DCPS determine what (and how many) there are for every subject/class?

RCTs are only identified in core content areas from what I know and many have been reduced from the original year that it started. A way for DCPS to track understanding in core classes for a few key tasks. Quality definitely varies and teachers do make some adjustments I've found.