When Did MCPS Stop Having Mid-Terms and Finals?
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Anonymous
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I don’t have a high schooler yet but someone mentioned it at a meeting yesterday. Do you know why this change was made?
Thank you. |
Anonymous
| Some teachers still do it but it was years ago. |
Anonymous
| Around 2015? I don't know the exact year, but, I'm sure it would come up in a google search. |
Anonymous
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Yes, they changed the policy in 2015, to take effect in 2016:
http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/AFGS6Y71088A/$file/Marking%20Period%20Assessments.pdf |
Anonymous
Thank you for this! |
Anonymous
| We definitely had mid terms and finals growing up and I know that my nieces in private high school in Maryland definitely have them. Since they will likely also has them in college, doesn’t seem fruitful to not have this type of preparation in high school as well. |
Anonymous
Some teachers, especially the ap teachers have weekly quizzes, unit tests, etc. |
Anonymous
| An AP test is basically a final. I don’t know what people mean by “mid-terms.” When I was in MCPS we had a final exam in most classes (not most electives) at the end of each semester. But those were semester final exams, not mid-terms. I don’t think we had any mid-term exam as opposed to unit tests or whatever the teachers chose to give along the way. I do think HS final exams were useful experiences and we also got a week off of regular school because of the scheduling of finals - up to 2 per day but not more and often only had one. |
Anonymous
Private school kid has end of term finals (I guess you could call them midterms) and then end of year final. The AP exam is the final for the AP classes. It’s a lot of work and can be stressful but learning how to study/organize your time to study for multiple tests covering a large amount of material is an important skill for college prep. DC who went through MCPS struggled with that in college. |
Anonymous
 The semester final exams are the "mid terms". I am sure the OP is an immigrant and this is the vocabulary of someone who did not go to school here.
OP - There are two semesters in the school year. And each semester has two quarters. MCPS does all kinds of weird smoke and mirrors in testing and reporting so URM, FARMs and low performing students can also seem to be doing well. One thing they decided that if they do not have semester final exams...there will be no way to judge how poorly kids are being doing. This was based on an expose by Washington Post (WaPo) that saw that A students (who got As due to turning in homework in time and unit tests that were take home etc) actually were failing the semester exam. Let me explain it to you - School year = Semester 1 + Semester 2 Semester 1 = Quarter 1 + Quarter 2 Semester 2 = Quarter 3 + Quarter 4 Grades calculated that goes on the transcript before they removed the semester final Semester 1 grade = quarter 1 + quarter 2 + end of semester exam. Now Semester 1 grade = quarter 1 + quarter 2 Also a grade in any quarter is rounded off not in percentages but by 100% of the next grade. So, if a kid got 89.5% in quarter 1, it will be rounded off to not a 90% and thus an A, but rather it will be counted as an A which scored 100%. This is called - GRADE INFLATION URM = Under Represented Minorities (Blacks and Hispanics) FARMS = Free And Reduced Meals Students = Poor students. How are grades determined in each quarter? Turning in homework (Does not have to be correct or complete) gets you 10%. Rest are projects and tests that can be repeated multiple times or even taken home to finish. Kids are dumb enough to not even finish those tests. |
Anonymous
| They still have things that are functionally equivalent, including APs, the District Assessments and the state required tests for things like Algebra and Bio and Gov, and also combined unit tests that function like mid-terms and/or finals. Don't worry -- there are lots of tests! |
Anonymous
This person is at least 50% wrong. A lot of this varies by teacher, including stuff like whether homework is graded for completion or accuracy, and whether quizzes are retakabe (tests are not retakable). I have never heard of a test being taken home to be finished. Maybe this is happening in the remedial classes where they are just trying to get kids graduated. My kids' classes are actually pretty tough! |
Anonymous
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That’s crazy
My kids had midterms and finals since middle school at their private |
Anonymous
| How will that prepare them for college |
Anonymous
| Too many kids were failing and making MCPS look bad. So they were eliminated |