Explain how grades are inflated.

[Anonymous]

Because they give you a "study guide" which tells you what to study and the tests are so easy that almost everyone gets an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they give you a "study guide" which tells you what to study and the tests are so easy that almost everyone gets an A.

I went to a Big 3 private school in the ’90s, and we still got study guides.

[Anonymous]

It varies by teacher and school. Most of our teachers hers don’t allow any retakes. They need a clear policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they give you a "study guide" which tells you what to study and the tests are so easy that almost everyone gets an A.

We’ve never gotten that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's mostly the HS semester grades people are referring to. If a student gets a low B quarter one (79.5% which rounds to 80%) and a low A quarter two (89.5% which rounds to 90%), they get an A for the semester. The same as a student who gets 100% for both quarters.

Whereas in most private schools that would be an 84.5, with a B on the report card and no bump if it happens to be an AP or equivalent class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in another state, but my sister lives in MCPS. Based on our conversations ...

1.) Her kids can always retake tests/quizzes. Mine have almost never had that option.
2.) Written work. In my kids' district, a pretty good term paper with a couple of lapses in logic, sourcing, etc., might get an 86. They'd get some detailed feedback and edits. In my niece's and nephew's, the same paper would get an A, with very little feedback.
3.) Extra credit. I remember her telling me once that her kid had a 110 in Spanish, LOL.

Not sure which school your sister's children attend, but the only part of the a over thats true is that some classes have retakes for certain quizzes. I appreciate that as it is a way to foster learning. End of unit tests aren't retakeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they give you a "study guide" which tells you what to study and the tests are so easy that almost everyone gets an A.

Mmm.. no. Perhaps your child is in remedial?

[Anonymous]

OP, how hard/ critically are your MS or HS student's term papers and other long written work graded? The answer to that will tell you a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, how hard/ critically are your MS or HS student's term papers and other long written work graded? The answer to that will tell you a lot.

Op here. They put it as a test grade 60%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they give you a "study guide" which tells you what to study and the tests are so easy that almost everyone gets an A.

Mmm.. no. Perhaps your child is in remedial?

No need to be rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how hard/ critically are your MS or HS student's term papers and other long written work graded? The answer to that will tell you a lot.

Op here. They put it as a test grade 60%

What??

That wasn't the question.

When your kid writes a term paper (10-12 pages in length), how harshly is it graded? Points off for grammatical mistakes? Lots of comments and feedback on paper outline and organization? Etc.

If none of that, your kids are victims of grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how hard/ critically are your MS or HS student's term papers and other long written work graded? The answer to that will tell you a lot.

Op here. They put it as a test grade 60%

What??

That wasn't the question.

When your kid writes a term paper (10-12 pages in length), how harshly is it graded? Points off for grammatical mistakes? Lots of comments and feedback on paper outline and organization? Etc.

If none of that, your kids are victims of grade inflation.

OP here—I apologize. Yes, they do get docked for mistakes. The grading is out of 5 for content, spelling, grammar, etc., with each category having its own box. All of these categories contribute to the final grade. And yes, there are comments on the paper outline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really is school and teacher specific. Some schools are very liberal about it and others are not.

+1. The retake thing is ridiculous with some teachers. I will note my child has a quiz tomorrow and he will say-meh I don’t need to study, I can retake it because Ms X allows it.

With other teachers, I have seen that they only allow a retake if the whole class seems to have failed something (which makes sense because at that point most of the class has failed to absorb the material.)

And despite my kid being in accelerated classes in middle school, the toughest one they have is a plain old English class with non differentiation. Retakes are rare. Homework is heavy and it’s the only class where my kid is constantly at risk of falling to a B. It really is the teacher sometimes. The one we have is tough.

[Anonymous]

No final exams is ridiculous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I constantly see people talk about how MCPS inflates grades and makes things too easy, but many private schools—both local and national—have similar, if not identical, grading scales. Retakes aren’t that common either. Maybe it’s just my kid’s school, but it seems normal to me. Maybe there’s something I’m missing. Thanks!

My daughter had a 4.4 and wasn’t in the top quarter of her class. Honors classes getting the same GPA bump as AP classes, retakes, having a 79.5 and an 89.5 equal an A for the semester. All examples of things which inflate grades.