Final Exams

[Anonymous]

Do HS kids in MCPS have Final exams?

I thought the school system did bring them back, but my friend with a kid in HS says her kid is essentially done for the school year.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the teacher. My DC still has a ton of projects and a final big exam for one of his AP classes after the AP test weeks, while for another AP class, they were just watching movies in class after the AP test was done.

[Anonymous]

No, there are no Finals in MCPS.

There can be tests and presentations, of course, depending on the subject and teacher, right until the end of the school year. But none of them carry the same weight as Finals, and it's up to each teacher to finish the year how they want.

This week my 10th grader has a presentation in APUSH and a presentation in Spanish. She has a 3-pager due for Honors English 10. I think those are the big ones. I doubt next week there will be anything.

[Anonymous]

Teacher dependent. Mine are still getting lots of homework and classwork assignments.

[Anonymous]

Closest thing we have is the MISA in Algebra, Biology, and NSL. Those tests count as 20% of their 4th quarter grade. Because of that, the B semester in each class is not offered in Summer School. I learned that today when trying to sign one of the students on my caseload up for summer school classes today.

[Anonymous]

Yes for some classes, no for most of the AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, MCPS does not have a formal Finals requirement. If individual teachers want to set up exams for their class, they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify, MCPS does not have a formal Finals requirement. If individual teachers want to set up exams for their class, they can.

No assignment can count for more than 25% though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify, MCPS does not have a formal Finals requirement. If individual teachers want to set up exams for their class, they can.

No assignment can count for more than 25% though.

It depends as many teachers are not held accountable and can do what they want.

[Anonymous]

OP again. I thought that was one of the changes that BOE made about 2-3 years ago... bringing back finals, which was part of the changes to grading policy. Did that get changed? Or was I misinformed?

When mine were in HS, one AP teacher had a final at the end of Q2 that did count for a decent percent of the quarter grade. Then the pandemic hit and learning ceased...

My kids have been out for about 4-5 years. But as a homeowner in MoCo, I do care about the school system (but not enough to follow every last thing).

[Anonymous]

Final exams make grade and data manipulation difficult. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that failing a cumulative final with an A average does not add up.

[Anonymous]

The district I used to work at had Final Exams but if you had A's in each MP you were exempt from the exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I thought that was one of the changes that BOE made about 2-3 years ago... bringing back finals, which was part of the changes to grading policy. Did that get changed? Or was I misinformed?

When mine were in HS, one AP teacher had a final at the end of Q2 that did count for a decent percent of the quarter grade. Then the pandemic hit and learning ceased...

My kids have been out for about 4-5 years. But as a homeowner in MoCo, I do care about the school system (but not enough to follow every last thing).

They did not bring back final exams

[Anonymous]

Some classes have district assessments. I know Alegbra 2 and Biology had theirs. I don’t believe US History or English 9 did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some classes have district assessments. I know Alegbra 2 and Biology had theirs. I don’t believe US History or English 9 did.

In my English 9 class we did an essay that counted as their District Assessment grade