Should/ Do students at MCPS get 50% for just being able to write their name on assignments

[Anonymous]

Our issue is that when everything is scored for 10 points, if a child gets 2-3 questions wrong, they get a 70-80 anyway. So, they worked hard, and didn't have enough work to really grade so why work that hard if they can just do the absolute minimum and get the same grade with the baseline of a 50%. And, it make its it very hard to track online as it shows assignments complete when they are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our issue is that when everything is scored for 10 points, if a child gets 2-3 questions wrong, they get a 70-80 anyway. So, they worked hard, and didn't have enough work to really grade so why work that hard if they can just do the absolute minimum and get the same grade with the baseline of a 50%. And, it make its it very hard to track online as it shows assignments complete when they are not.

Ugh, I posted elsewhere about my kid struggling in Spanish this year, and this is a huge part of the problem. The 10% completion assignments are all worth 100 points, but the 90% All Tasks assignments are worth 2-2.5 points. So even if they lose .5 or .25 points on an assignment, they're down to a B or C.

[Anonymous]

If the work is not done or not turned in, it gets 0.

If the work is done in a mediocre way, it gets 50%.

If the work is done incredibly well, it gets 90%.

This would make it easy for colleges to select accordingly

[Anonymous]

The 50% passing rule came about when standardized testing was dragging down MoCo’s image. The minorities would be in high school until they were 26 if it weren’t for this policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the work is not done or not turned in, it gets 0.

If the work is done in a mediocre way, it gets 50%.

If the work is done incredibly well, it gets 90%.

This would make it easy for colleges to select accordingly

It doesn't make it easier.

In a system where 50% of the grade is based solely on whether you turn stuff in, your report card reflects behavior more than knowledge. If you have 2 kids,

Kid A -- takes 2 assessments, scores solidly (85%, indicating mastery) on both, and then doesn't turn in the 3rd due to a medical emergency, or other issue.

Kid B -- takes all 3 assessments. Gets a D- on all 3. Clearly does not know the material at all.

Kid A fails and Kid B passes.

The grade is much more about behavior than it is about understanding and mastery.

Switching to a grading system like that used for AP tests, and IB tests, where the difference between an F and a D is the same as the difference between an A and a B changes that. It stops kids who dont understand by skating by on participation, and reduces the consequences for kids who do understand the concepts, but don't have the stability in their lives to get everything turned in. It also means that if a kid gets off to a weak start, there's a chance for people to intervene and turn things around, because those early F's don't drag them down.

Having the grading scale go from 50 to 100 means that mathematically it mirrors the G.P.A. scale. Getting caught up in the idea that 50% means they are getting credit is dumb. If we changed instead to grading assignments from 0 - 4, with 0 being F and 4 being A, then the math would work out the same, but we'd have fewer complaints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 50% passing rule came about when standardized testing was dragging down MoCo’s image. The minorities would be in high school until they were 26 if it weren’t for this policy.

No, it came from tantruming parents whose brats would not participate in school and their entitled parents expect them to be socially passed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our issue is that when everything is scored for 10 points, if a child gets 2-3 questions wrong, they get a 70-80 anyway. So, they worked hard, and didn't have enough work to really grade so why work that hard if they can just do the absolute minimum and get the same grade with the baseline of a 50%. And, it make its it very hard to track online as it shows assignments complete when they are not.

Ugh, I posted elsewhere about my kid struggling in Spanish this year, and this is a huge part of the problem. The 10% completion assignments are all worth 100 points, but the 90% All Tasks assignments are worth 2-2.5 points. So even if they lose .5 or .25 points on an assignment, they're down to a B or C.

It’s terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know OP wants to assume the worst possible motivations, or the laziest possible students, but the truth is that most classes don't have that many assignments.

One missed instruction, or misunderstanding, or just bad day doing homework, should not make a child unable to receive a passing (or even a good) grade for the quarter.

I have older kids, so I've seen this policy in action and it is actually good. It keeps kids motivated by making it clear that one bad day isn't going to tank their entire quarter. If you work hard on the other assignments, and make up the points that you can make up, you can still do well even if one assignment went poorly.

I'm coming around to this opinion, too. At least for now. I hated it when I heard about it because I work really hard at home to instill the importance of turning in every assignment and doing the best she can., and I felt undermined by this policy.

But actually, they are still giving a grade of E on the assignment, which still has a substantial impact on the final grade. If she has 8 assignments during the term and gets a 95% on 7 and forgot one at home, resulting in a 50% on 1, she still has a high B for the quarter's total assignment grade. That sounds about right to me.

There are things I hate about mcps grading but given the stress of last year and this year, I'm okay with this for now.

[Anonymous]

My kid got a 65% on a test recently. He studied hard and met with a tutor. This is for math and it's hard for him. I'd be pissed if a student got a 50% and didn't do anything more than write their name on it. Nothing should get nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know OP wants to assume the worst possible motivations, or the laziest possible students, but the truth is that most classes don't have that many assignments.

One missed instruction, or misunderstanding, or just bad day doing homework, should not make a child unable to receive a passing (or even a good) grade for the quarter.

I have older kids, so I've seen this policy in action and it is actually good. It keeps kids motivated by making it clear that one bad day isn't going to tank their entire quarter. If you work hard on the other assignments, and make up the points that you can make up, you can still do well even if one assignment went poorly.

I'm coming around to this opinion, too. At least for now. I hated it when I heard about it because I work really hard at home to instill the importance of turning in every assignment and doing the best she can., and I felt undermined by this policy.

But actually, they are still giving a grade of E on the assignment, which still has a substantial impact on the final grade. If she has 8 assignments during the term and gets a 95% on 7 and forgot one at home, resulting in a 50% on 1, she still has a high B for the quarter's total assignment grade. That sounds about right to me.

There are things I hate about mcps grading but given the stress of last year and this year, I'm okay with this for now.

Prior to COVID, the MCPS grading policy was if a child attempted an assignment or assessment then the child earned a minimum 50%.

Now the policy is 50% for no attempt. Big difference. 50% for no attempt actually gives an incentive for low performing students to do 0 work on assignments. There’s no difference of trying but falling short and not trying at all.

I think MCPS should go back to the old grading policy because it encouraged students to keep attempting to do school work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the work is not done or not turned in, it gets 0.

If the work is done in a mediocre way, it gets 50%.

If the work is done incredibly well, it gets 90%.

This would make it easy for colleges to select accordingly

My kids teacher gives 50% when it's not turned in and 100% for turning something in - it's awesome everyone gets A!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know OP wants to assume the worst possible motivations, or the laziest possible students, but the truth is that most classes don't have that many assignments.

One missed instruction, or misunderstanding, or just bad day doing homework, should not make a child unable to receive a passing (or even a good) grade for the quarter.

I have older kids, so I've seen this policy in action and it is actually good. It keeps kids motivated by making it clear that one bad day isn't going to tank their entire quarter. If you work hard on the other assignments, and make up the points that you can make up, you can still do well even if one assignment went poorly.

I'm coming around to this opinion, too. At least for now. I hated it when I heard about it because I work really hard at home to instill the importance of turning in every assignment and doing the best she can., and I felt undermined by this policy.

But actually, they are still giving a grade of E on the assignment, which still has a substantial impact on the final grade. If she has 8 assignments during the term and gets a 95% on 7 and forgot one at home, resulting in a 50% on 1, she still has a high B for the quarter's total assignment grade. That sounds about right to me.

There are things I hate about mcps grading but given the stress of last year and this year, I'm okay with this for now.

Prior to COVID, the MCPS grading policy was if a child attempted an assignment or assessment then the child earned a minimum 50%.

Now the policy is 50% for no attempt. Big difference. 50% for no attempt actually gives an incentive for low performing students to do 0 work on assignments. There’s no difference of trying but falling short and not trying at all.

I think MCPS should go back to the old grading policy because it encouraged students to keep attempting to do school work.

Not really worried about these scenarios. 50% is still an F. I don't think that incentive matters one way or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 65% on a test recently. He studied hard and met with a tutor. This is for math and it's hard for him. I'd be pissed if a student got a 50% and didn't do anything more than write their name on it. Nothing should get nothing.

Why would you be pissed? Your kid scored a whole letter grade above the kid that did nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got a 65% on a test recently. He studied hard and met with a tutor. This is for math and it's hard for him. I'd be pissed if a student got a 50% and didn't do anything more than write their name on it. Nothing should get nothing.

You get 50% even if you turn nothing in

[Anonymous]

Teachers hate this rule. I have kids who do zero work and then copy stuff from other kids and turn it in and they end up passing with a c. They have literally learned nothing in the class and have no work ethic. It is often impossible to prove the cheating as kids text each other answers or quickly take pictures of friends assignments. There is a lot of pressure on teachers not to give zeros or fail students.