MCPS Math Failures: Will exams come back when PARCC goes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i doubt exams will come back because PARCC goes away. As I recall, BOE removed final exams because they were a source of "too much stress" for students. They were replaced with the Required Quarterly Assessment, which is now called Progress Check. The RQA/Prog Check is worth 10% of a quarter's grade. Not every subject has them, but math is one that does have them.

Seriously? What are they going to do when they get to college and have a battery of final exams? These kids are going to be completely unprepared.

Yes, so we have to have them in high school, to prepare them for college. But then what will they do when they get to high school completely unprepared? We have to have them in middle school, to prepare them for college. But then what will they do when they get to middle school completely unprepared?

Presumably, it would be a good idea to get kids used to the idea a cumulative exams BEFORE their grades on those exams matter, so yes, it’s a good idea to have them in junior high school.

I live in PA and our district starts cumulative final exams in third grade.

Not seriously?

Yeah, seriously, and it’s not a problem at all because the district has an actual curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yeah, seriously, and it’s not a problem at all because the district has an actual curriculum.

I think that cumulative final exams for 8-9 year-olds is a problem, no matter what the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yeah, seriously, and it’s not a problem at all because the district has an actual curriculum.

I think that cumulative final exams for 8-9 year-olds is a problem, no matter what the curriculum.

Technically isn't PARCC a cumulative exam for reading and mathematics? It is testing the common core standards for a given grade level in that subject- which is presumably what should be what is taught in that grade level. Not defending PARCC, just showing that it seems like we do have cumulative exams, in the form of PARCC, AP Tests, and HSAs, problem is they do not impact grades. However, I think this is why the board took away other finals, it seemed redundant.

Even though PARCC is going away, it will be replaced with something...

[Anonymous]

Even though PARCC is going away, it will be replaced with something...

Which MCPS will fail again....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i doubt exams will come back because PARCC goes away. As I recall, BOE removed final exams because they were a source of "too much stress" for students. They were replaced with the Required Quarterly Assessment, which is now called Progress Check. The RQA/Prog Check is worth 10% of a quarter's grade. Not every subject has them, but math is one that does have them.

Seriously? What are they going to do when they get to college and have a battery of final exams? These kids are going to be completely unprepared.

Yes, so we have to have them in high school, to prepare them for college. But then what will they do when they get to high school completely unprepared? We have to have them in middle school, to prepare them for college. But then what will they do when they get to middle school completely unprepared?

Presumably, it would be a good idea to get kids used to the idea a cumulative exams BEFORE their grades on those exams matter, so yes, it’s a good idea to have them in junior high school.

I live in PA and our district starts cumulative final exams in third grade.

My son's private school starts midterms and finals in 3rd grade in 2 subjects- math and reading. The grades count as a regular test grade. In 4th grade, they add in science and in 5th grade, they add in social studies. In 6th grade, they add in foreign language and religion so they have 6 midterms and finals throughout middle school. I would be pissed if my kid got to high school never having taken a midterm or final.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it's important for kids to have finals to prepare for college.

I also think they have a greater importance. It's all to easy in school to learn something for a test, only to forget it shortly after. I've done it myself. However, when you know you're going to be tested on it again, there is an extra incentive to study the subject matter more thoroughly so that the material is mastered and retained. Even if the material is forgotten before the final, the final forces the student to review the material again, increasing the chances the material will be learned and retained.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone on this thread have an actual high school student?! Many HS courses require a cumulative exam (IB, AP, PLTW).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone on this thread have an actual high school student?! Many HS courses require a cumulative exam (IB, AP, PLTW).

Yes, I'm poster 20:08.

I have one high school senior and one college student. They both took AP courses and AP tests. I think the AP tests provided the educational benefits described above.

It also enables an evaluation of the course. If students from an AP class take an AP test and most of them score 5s, that class is viewed a success, because at least at the time the test was taken, the students had a good grasp of the course material. If most of the students scored ones, I suspect the course would be analyzed and changed.

When MCPS students failed their finals, the county changed the grades and eventually just did away with finals.

https://wjla.com/news/local/montgomery-county-schools-adjusts-final-algebra-grade-after-more-than-80-percent-fail-exam-104667

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wtop.com/montgomery-county/2015/07/montgomery-county-final-exam-failures-continue/amp/

I think it's telling that the programs which are academically respected (IB, AP, PLTW, and most college classes) require finals. That would seem to indicate there is academic merit in taking a cumulative final. It seems like MCPS students would benefit from the same practice.

[Anonymous]

And the smac magnet classes continue to have finals as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the smac magnet classes continue to have finals as well.

I didn't know this!!!

[Anonymous]

MCPS canned them because between 50-70% of kids were FAILING them. They were embarrassed. No need to fix the problem, when you can just get rid of it.

[Anonymous]

In MCPS you can get a 79.5 and an 89.5 in an honors class and get a 5.0.

It has got to be the most inflated grading system known. Bare minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In MCPS you can get a 79.5 and an 89.5 in an honors class and get a 5.0.

It has got to be the most inflated grading system known. Bare minimum.

And that's when:

Most work isn't graded but merely checked for completion.

Work that is graded, as long as it was attempted gets a minimum grade of 50%, regardless of its correctness.

Students can retake quizzes for a higher grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i doubt exams will come back because PARCC goes away. As I recall, BOE removed final exams because they were a source of "too much stress" for students. They were replaced with the Required Quarterly Assessment, which is now called Progress Check. The RQA/Prog Check is worth 10% of a quarter's grade. Not every subject has them, but math is one that does have them.

Seriously? What are they going to do when they get to college and have a battery of final exams? These kids are going to be completely unprepared.

agree

We left MCPS for many reasons. In this new system, exams were never removed. My daughter has immediately noticed differences between the new system and MCPS. There are no cell phones allowed in class. Negative behaviors are addressed, and kids are held accountable for high level work. My daughter has even said that during group activities, students come prepared and "everyone could be a leader." So our move was very positive.

Regarding PARCC, however, once it disappears, it will only be replaced by another standardized test.

https://wtop.com/maryland/2018/09/maryland-wants-to-see-end-of-parcc-tests-but-whats-next/

But, Maryland will administer the PARCC tests one last time, in the 2019-2020 school year, before administering its own exams, now currently being drafted.

On the same day that the most recent PARCC scores were released, the state board met to discuss the work being done, with a summary of bullet points that outlined what will change and what will remain. The new tests will be shorter in duration than the PARCC exams, but the state standards will remain the same.

The standards are complicated and packed with multiple objectives. I can't imagine how any of the "experts" (b/c of course, teachers are the last people to consult) will determine how to simplify these newer versions of the same old . . .

[Anonymous]

some MCPS high school math teachers are horrible and the curriculum is bad. Bring back math textbooks and follow them. Kids with bad teachers could have a chance to learn the course from the textbooks. My 3 kids have had some pretty bad math teachers in MCPS.