The state of MCPS is atrocious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

But a lot more kids, especially of certain groups, now pass due to the 50% rule. Therefore, MCPS's policy is working.

yes, it's akin to covid and the red states -- if they don't report the numbers, then the numbers don't look so bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

Yup. Furthermore, the messages are conflicting.

A D-equivalent GPA means you're suspended from participating in athletics. But it's good enough to pass on and graduate?

That doesn't make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That teacher is not at a school with high property values.

If kids refuse to learn, that's a tragedy, but not harming others.

If a kid has a terrible behavior case, teacher shouldn't complain about skipping! That's a tragedy and a home and societal failure, but not the school's job.

MCPS needs to remove distruptive students from the classroom with the students who behave well, though. That's the main thing the admin can fix.

I’m t a middle school with high property taxes and that’s exactly how many kids speak to teachers, principals and security

[Anonymous]

why do some parents not care? being too busy is not an excuse. my immigrant parents worked everyday with the occassional sunday off from 8am to sometimes as late as 10pm. even thought they were unable to help.with some homework, they made sure as much of it was done and that we turned something in and got help from the school. we didnt get the best grades but we did not get Ds, Education was a huge priority for them so at a minimum we went to school everyday, did not skip class and they did not ignore the teachers.

[Anonymous]

Who cares. My kid is getting great grades and is going to a top college next year, and is PREPARED. The older kid also went through MCPS and has a great career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many schools don’t want parents involved.

You are so stupid and out of touch, go home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

Please explain how failing out of high school makes someone less of a burden on society than giving them a weak diploma. I have classmates who skipped classes and dropped out and ones who D'd through, for whom education just didn't work, with no college degree, who have decently paying white collar jobs.

[Anonymous]

I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

You all need to work with the parents and let them know what's going on and have parents come in and volunteer and help vs. complaining. This isn't something new. Even before covid, may schools were closed to parents and yet, the teachers and admin complained bitterly about the parents. We cannot help if we don't know what's going on. Kids behave differently so they may be behaving at home and not school so if that's the situation it's on the teachers to communicate. We'd email the teachers and rarely get a response back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1000 agree. When I went to HS eons ago in a rough area with not a lot of high achievers, high FARMS rate, they also let us drop the few lowest test scores. That is a much better way to deal with recovery because it still encourages them to try.

This 50% rule BS is not doing those kids any favors.

To be Devil’s advocate on just this one point, what is so wrong with a kid coasting through and barely passing with straight D’s? The alternative is not that they will somehow get their sh*t together and become model students. The alternative is that dropout rates will go through the roof. These kids aren’t going to college. Straight D’s aren’t much of a prize. They just mean maybe you can qualify for a menial job.

Frankly, a D should not be "passing" for a high school diploma, IMO. The long-term consequence in letting D being the standard for graduation, means that the high school diploma is worth less, which forces employers to rely on a bachelor's degree instead, just to get someone who can speak, write and read at a professional level, which then pushes more kids to college when they might just want to work.

So lowering the bar has all kinds of downstream effects that we pay for as a society. One of the reasons why previous generations could build wealth and own homes is that they actually could get a decent paying job with just a high school diploma. You could argue that society becoming more complex has also necessitated the push toward bachelor's degree as being the new standard, and that's part of it, but I also think lowering the standards for a high school diploma contributes to the problem too.

I would argue a HS diploma meant more 50 years ago than today. The standards are too low today for just HS grads to get a job as an electrician, for example. Some of these kids can barely read or do Algebra, do fractions.. yet, MCPS thinks these kids will be fine? They just unleash these graduates on society, and let society bear the burden of dealing with them.

It's a school to societal burden pipeline.

Please explain how failing out of high school makes someone less of a burden on society than giving them a weak diploma. I have classmates who skipped classes and dropped out and ones who D'd through, for whom education just didn't work, with no college degree, who have decently paying white collar jobs.

explain? Really? Let's see... an 18 yr old HS grad who can barely read or do fractions is going to get what kind of job out of HS? And how much would that person earn? Would that person be able to live a decent life in expensive MoCo without taxpayer subsidies?

When did you graduate? Also, do you understand ancedata <> statistical data? Why do people always bring their little anecdotal evidence into these discussions as if that anecdotal evidence applies to the whole rather than the exception. What is your degree in?

[Anonymous]

How about we let kids decide what courses they want to take instead of forcing X amount of foreign language, 4 years of math, etc...
Bring back trade options in school so the kids that aren't going to even try in Algebra 2 maybe can take a computer tech course or a mechanic class.

Most Americans will never use math beyond Algebra so forcing all of these kids to keep taking math every year and making finance class OPTIONAL is pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

You all need to work with the parents and let them know what's going on and have parents come in and volunteer and help vs. complaining. This isn't something new. Even before covid, may schools were closed to parents and yet, the teachers and admin complained bitterly about the parents. We cannot help if we don't know what's going on. Kids behave differently so they may be behaving at home and not school so if that's the situation it's on the teachers to communicate. We'd email the teachers and rarely get a response back.

Please point out where I said we were NOT calling parents on a daily basis about their child's behaviors? We do call and we either get sent to voicemail or cussed out and called racist. Trust me, teachers are trying everything under the sun.

[Anonymous]

I called four parents today and three of those numbers were out of service.

Last month was me of my students hit her head at recess. An admin took her to the ER and nobody could get in touch with her parents. Her mom showed up at dismissal pissed that we had called her all afternoon. She was trying to sleep. When we told her that her daughter was still in the ER, she became enraged.

Lack of parenting is my biggest issue because it really impacts everything. Kids don’t recognize limits because they have none at home. Makes it easy for parents since they are on devices all day and night.