Gaming high school grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In MCPS, if quarter 1 grade is an A and quarter 2 grade is a B - then the semester grade is an A, correct? And only semester grades go on the transcript or are used to calculate GPA, correct? Do kids just slack off in Q2/4 if they've already received an A the previous quarter?

Correct. Even better if a kids gets an E 1st quarter, doesn't show up until the last week of 2nd quarter does two assignments and because of the 50% rule, now that student passes!

Or a student gets a C first quarter, they have automatically passed for the semester. No need to show up 2nd quarter.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious.. dc has a C in qtr 1 for a class. Whether they get an A or a B in qtr 2, they will have a B for the course either way.. correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, kids can do this. What is your purpose in raising the topic though?

I just wanted to start another thread to complain about great inflation again or anything related to MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious.. dc has a C in qtr 1 for a class. Whether they get an A or a B in qtr 2, they will have a B for the course either way.. correct?

Yes, C+ B = B and C + A = B

In old days, with final exam, a C + A + A (final) = A

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious.. dc has a C in qtr 1 for a class. Whether they get an A or a B in qtr 2, they will have a B for the course either way.. correct?

Yes, with the automatic grading. But teachers also have the ability to override the semester grade. I have had cases where a student got a 79.1 in 1st quarter, due to illness or something causing them to miss some work early on. But in 2nd Qtr they earned a strong A (94+) and all of their tests were As. In this case I can confidently say the student has A level mastery of the material, and I will override the semester grade to be a A, including the justification in the notes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, kids can do this. What is your purpose in raising the topic though?

To say the MCPS has the most ridiculous weighted GPA system in the country.
That getting anything 79.5 or higher in Q2 means you still get an A.
That the kids know how to beat the system and do it without learning pretty frequently

[Anonymous]

My kid got a 78 in one class and now doesn't even care what they get this quarter. Even if they get an A or a B, it will still be a B for the semester grade. So there is no incentive to try and pull and A for that class. None

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, kids can do this. What is your purpose in raising the topic though?

To say the MCPS has the most ridiculous weighted GPA system in the country.
That getting anything 79.5 or higher in Q2 means you still get an A.
That the kids know how to beat the system and do it without learning pretty frequently

Then just say that, instead of posing a question you already know the answer to.

And while all of these critiques are valid, how are you pushing MCPS to do things differently if you're unhappy with this grading policy? I promise you posting anonymously on DCUM about it does nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 78 in one class and now doesn't even care what they get this quarter. Even if they get an A or a B, it will still be a B for the semester grade. So there is no incentive to try and pull and A for that class. None

This is where you as a parent need to step in and set what you will and won't allow, not what your kid thinks is acceptable.

My kids know that if they get a C, there's going to be questions and potentially consequences if I can suss out they were dropping the ball, which is pretty easy to see if you look in ParentVUE and Canvas to see the trail of missed assignments and quiz/test scores.

[Anonymous]

I am not worried about this kind of thing. It doesn't seem like a real problem when compared with the many other issues the county is facing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, kids can do this. What is your purpose in raising the topic though?

To say the MCPS has the most ridiculous weighted GPA system in the country.
That getting anything 79.5 or higher in Q2 means you still get an A.
That the kids know how to beat the system and do it without learning pretty frequently

Still requires an average of at least 85, and it's just not so common to exactly hit the minimum, because you might miss when it's too late to fix.

There's no "system" to "beat" except your own obsession.