Final Grades HS

[Anonymous]

No valedictorian's in MCPS high schools.

[Anonymous]

Oops. Meant "no valedictorians in MCPS high schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was 40% for each quarter and 20% for the final.

I think it's slightly different for second semester seniors because the finals are part of the second semester grade. But I could be wrong about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grade for the quarter should be reflected if the last graded assignment was indeed the final one. A week or two later Edline will post grades for the marking period. Final exam grades show up on the report card, but some teachers will post this as an "ungraded" assignment on Edline so students can determine their final grade for the semester. Final exams are 25% of the semester grade. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure this is how it works.

Final semester grades are figured out with a formula based on the letter.

So, for example, my kid had a class where he got a C (Q1) an A (Q2) and an E on the final (yeah, I'm still puzzled by that one too). That comes out to a C, regardless of whether he got a 59 or a 1 on the final, because CAE = C.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/blakehs/staff/finalgradecalc.pdf

Wow! So two B's even both at 89.0 can never equal an A ???

Correct. Happened to my DC in 2 classes last semester. The curse of the 89.4. Ruined an otherwise nearly perfect GPA. But DC did get the benefit of teacher flexibility a couple of times. An A, B, B was an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/blakehs/staff/finalgradecalc.pdf

OK, so the very helpful page at the link above (thanks PP!) includes the following statement:

Teachers have the option to force a grade up or down depending upon the student's performance in the course and mastery of the course objectives.

Does this mean that the teacher might have the ability to bump the final grade up if a kid got As both quarters but a D or E on the final exam? My son carried a 98 percent average for each of the last two quarters in a class, but fears he completely messed up the multiple choice final because he missed a number and started putting answers in the wrong places (or something--he was so stressed out about the screw up he couldn't even talk about it).

Anyone know if there is any hope for ending up with an A due to teacher flexibility in a scenario like that?

You're welcome. I always bump up in those situations --even if I suspect the kid blew off the final. It's just not worth fighting kids and parents over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, we will be on vacation and not get her report card for 4 weeks. Two classes could go either A or B....ugh, the wait.

Are you f-ing kidding me?

What? no life outside of your kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, we will be on vacation and not get her report card for 4 weeks. Two classes could go either A or B....ugh, the wait.

Are you f-ing kidding me?

What? no life outside of your kid?

Well, they're on vacation, so I think the answer to that is obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, we will be on vacation and not get her report card for 4 weeks. Two classes could go either A or B....ugh, the wait.

Are you f-ing kidding me?

What? no life outside of your kid?

Yes, I have many personal activities and professional accolades - we are going on vacation. And, we all invest in our children's education everyday. DD and I are interested in her grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oops. Meant "no valedictorians in MCPS high schools."

So, how do colleges know who the top ranked students are? If you are in a high performing MCPS school there will be los of straight A students. How do colleges know who is in the top 1% or top 5%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops. Meant "no valedictorians in MCPS high schools."

So, how do colleges know who the top ranked students are? If you are in a high performing MCPS school there will be los of straight A students. How do colleges know who is in the top 1% or top 5%?

That's where the weighted GPAs can help. It's an indication of the relative strength of the curriculum. So if 2 kids have 4.0s and one has a 4.6 weighted and the other a 4.2 you know the 4.6 kid has taken more challenging classes. Also we went to graduation this week and the 4.0 kids were asked to stand up and there weren't that many. Maybe 15-20? Many kids end up getting a least 1 B at some point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oops. Meant "no valedictorians in MCPS high schools."

So, how do colleges know who the top ranked students are? If you are in a high performing MCPS school there will be los of straight A students. How do colleges know who is in the top 1% or top 5%?

That's where the weighted GPAs can help. It's an indication of the relative strength of the curriculum. So if 2 kids have 4.0s and one has a 4.6 weighted and the other a 4.2 you know the 4.6 kid has taken more challenging classes. Also we went to graduation this week and the 4.0 kids were asked to stand up and there weren't that many. Maybe 15-20? Many kids end up getting a least 1 B at some point.

I forgot about the weighted GPAs. Thanks!