My average/somewhat slacker 6th grader got straight As...WTH???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The title pretty much says it all. So why is the bar set so low? Does everyone get As in 6th grade? Remember: this is the 2.0 guinea pig class. Are they giving all the kids a free pass?

Honestly, my kid struggles with reading comprehension and is a very poor writer. He's in regular classes (nothing advanced and no foreign language) and has always been solidly average (with borderline MAP scores). Yet straight A's (even with a D on his last chapter test in one class).

Something must be up. The bar must have been lowered for 6th grade. And now he's confident that he can continue to put in minimal effort since that approach resulted in straight As. Thanks, mcps.

I don't know what to tell you. My daughter has 99% MAP scores, went to an HGC and is getting a mix of As and Bs in 6th. It's night and day harder than I expected it to be. One of her friends who struggled much more at the HGC is at a lower performing MS and is breezing through. Even though the curriculum is the same I think there are huge differences between schools and between teachers at the same school.

[Anonymous]

25% of our middle school gets straight A's every quarter. 75% make the honor roll. Means nothing..parents can see what is really going on.

[Anonymous]

I know longer think of A as outstanding. It just means you followed the rubric and did what was asked.

[Anonymous]

Homework only counts for 10%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homework only counts for 10%

Then how did my kid end up with straight As after blowing tests and written summatives???

I think As are the new Ps for the 2.0 guinea pigs.

[Anonymous]

My 8th grader is in a "W" feeder middle school. While she's a pretty smart kid, she puts about zero effort into studying and gets straight As. I think it's a combination of being really good at following the rubric, and being spoon fed the information you need to study for the exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The title pretty much says it all. So why is the bar set so low? Does everyone get As in 6th grade? Remember: this is the 2.0 guinea pig class. Are they giving all the kids a free pass?

Honestly, my kid struggles with reading comprehension and is a very poor writer. He's in regular classes (nothing advanced and no foreign language) and has always been solidly average (with borderline MAP scores). Yet straight A's (even with a D on his last chapter test in one class).

Something must be up. The bar must have been lowered for 6th grade. And now he's confident that he can continue to put in minimal effort since that approach resulted in straight As. Thanks, mcps.

And he won't even have a final he will fail to show how bad they teach and how easy they grade. Thanks MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:25% of our middle school gets straight A's every quarter. 75% make the honor roll. Means nothing..parents can see what is really going on.

+1

I laugh when I see the "My child is an honor roll student at _____ school" car magnets. Sorry, there is no brag there.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a good writing tutor for middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework only counts for 10%

Then how did my kid end up with straight As after blowing tests and written summatives???

I think As are the new Ps for the 2.0 guinea pigs.

One question are you sure you're looking at the report card and not the new blank grades for second quarter? Often Edline repopulates with A's (really 100% of zero points available) at the beginning of a marking period.
That said, our MS has low expectations and no shortage of classes where it would take a concerted effort to avoid getting an A. It was baffling when my daughter started sixth three years ago and continued the whole time she was there.

[Anonymous]

Also, at a W feeder school. My very bright child never got straight A's because he put in very little effort. I don't know how it's possible for a child to put in little effort and get straight A's. If that were the case than my kid would have had straight A's also. I got enough feedback from his teachers to know his lack of A's were a direct result of his lack of effort. My other child who did put in effort did well, but never got straight A's in middle school. I agree with posters who say it depends on the school and what the administration is pushing in terms of expectations for performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that they have dumbed down the education in MCPS. It used to be a great school district.

I'm a teacher in MCPS. The dumbing down has occurred in response to rampant parent pressure to crank out those As at all costs. My older child was able to get an excellent education in this system, but we felt we had to put the younger one in private school.

Thanks for the insight. Again, it's sad that parents think an A is all that matters. These kids are going to struggle when they get to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that they have dumbed down the education in MCPS. It used to be a great school district.

I'm a teacher in MCPS. The dumbing down has occurred in response to rampant parent pressure to crank out those As at all costs. My older child was able to get an excellent education in this system, but we felt we had to put the younger one in private school.

Thanks for the insight. Again, it's sad that parents think an A is all that matters. These kids are going to struggle when they get to college.

They'll struggle when they get to HS, too, my experience is expectations pick up significantly.
I witnessed exactly this when a teacher went out on long term leave. The sub started actually grading the kids on the material they should have been learning and a cabal of parents and students had her replaced in no time and the admin arbitrarily added a 10% bump to everyone's grade.

[Anonymous]

Our average 5th grader did average in 6th grade. All B's with the exception of two classes (PE and elective). Probably could have had A's in most had he not turned in things late or followed up and reassessed on tests he did poorly in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad that they have dumbed down the education in MCPS. It used to be a great school district.

I'm a teacher in MCPS. The dumbing down has occurred in response to rampant parent pressure to crank out those As at all costs. My older child was able to get an excellent education in this system, but we felt we had to put the younger one in private school.

Thanks for the insight. Again, it's sad that parents think an A is all that matters. These kids are going to struggle when they get to college.

They'll struggle when they get to HS, too, my experience is expectations pick up significantly.
I witnessed exactly this when a teacher went out on long term leave. The sub started actually grading the kids on the material they should have been learning and a cabal of parents and students had her replaced in no time and the admin arbitrarily added a 10% bump to everyone's grade.

Ugh. That's horrible PP.

My DS never struggled in school but was never really a completely straight A student either (usually all As and a B...). In 6th grade, he pulled down straight As with barely a nod to homework. I didn't understand it. Now, in 7th, he's getting his butt kicked. It's as though they pushed the kids through 6th to make the transition to MS easier and, now, the ones in higher level classes (advanced or honors) are really getting nailed. I hear parents yelling about grades constantly now where last year they were bragging about their childrens' intelligence.

Frankly, I'm glad DS is facing some rigor prior to high school. We were seriously considering going to private but if the rigor keeps up, we'll reassess.