How much grade inflation is there in elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think my kids' teachers are hard graders, especially in writing. And in math, my second grader gets marked down to a B if she doesn't put a line through the number when borrowing in subtraction, even though everything is done correctly.

My DC's teachers also grade hard with writing assignments but I don't mind it. I don't ever see my kid earning an A but think his writing is improving. He is at Cabin John. Had a similar experience with my eldest who graduated from Robert Frost. Maybe it is your school? Where are you? Maybe compared to others in his class, your kid is a shining star.

I'm fine with the hard grading - the second grade teacher in particular is demanding and it's great. This is a school in the middle of the County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In high school - my child is marked present when he is not in class and he has received full credit for assignments he didn’t do. Anything to pass him through with flying colors.

Grade inflation happens at all levels in MCPS, especially for children with disabilities.

BS

We dropped our kids IEP because of this. It was just an excuse to overlook everything written.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

Maybe you can give them their “real” grades rather than the county’s standards-based grading. In MCPS it is standards-based through 5th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

Do you now have an accurate measure of your kids mastery of a subject, or a calculation equal to point in time grading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

This is a parenting issue if they are not doing homework. Mcps offers free tutoring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

OP, how were your grades in school? Did you get corrected for writing “should of” and “strait A’s” but then forgot as you became an adult?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

Do you now have an accurate measure of your kids mastery of a subject, or a calculation equal to point in time grading?

Yes, I do. Grading on a scale of 100 makes it very clear. Plus annual standardized tests with national norms help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

This is a parenting issue if they are not doing homework. Mcps offers free tutoring

OP here:

Point is they are getting mostly A's doing almost no homework and a minimal mastery of the subjects.

One of the teachers just gives good grades to everyone to appease the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

OP, how were your grades in school? Did you get corrected for writing “should of” and “strait A’s” but then forgot as you became an adult?

My grades were lousy. But I did well financially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Don't forget the nun with the quick ruler!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think my kids' teachers are hard graders, especially in writing. And in math, my second grader gets marked down to a B if she doesn't put a line through the number when borrowing in subtraction, even though everything is done correctly.

My DC's teachers also grade hard with writing assignments but I don't mind it. I don't ever see my kid earning an A but think his writing is improving. He is at Cabin John. Had a similar experience with my eldest who graduated from Robert Frost. Maybe it is your school? Where are you? Maybe compared to others in his class, your kid is a shining star.

I'm fine with the hard grading - the second grade teacher in particular is demanding and it's great. This is a school in the middle of the County.

Oh yeah! THAT school in the middle of the county! The one with no name!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

But (and I can tell this) you are not a teacher in MCPS, are you? No, a teacher IN MCPS would know that schools within the county have some discretion so not every school is the same. My kid is at Cabin John and has all of the above that you just mentioned and believe it or not, even more than that. Maybe you're just zoned for the wrong school. You are STILL wasting your money. How can your kid not be getting all As in a cheap Catholic school that takes any warm body? That's almost unheard of.