How much grade inflation is there in elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

Mcps doesn’t have homework in elementary school. But there is an insane amount starting in sixth grade. So you could have saved yourself some money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

Mcps doesn’t have homework in elementary school. But there is an insane amount starting in sixth grade. So you could have saved yourself some money.

We have very little in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

Mcps doesn’t have homework in elementary school. But there is an insane amount starting in sixth grade. So you could have saved yourself some money.

Um, yes they do. At least, my second grader does. About 10 minutes of math and 20 minutes of reading every night. I don't know if that's a lot or a little but it isn't zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

Mcps doesn’t have homework in elementary school. But there is an insane amount starting in sixth grade. So you could have saved yourself some money.

Um, yes they do. At least, my second grader does. About 10 minutes of math and 20 minutes of reading every night. I don't know if that's a lot or a little but it isn't zero.

Every school varies. Reading is not real homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

No college is going to judge your kid based on what happened in ES. Many independent schools have little to no homework and few if any grades in ES, especially lower grades (K-2) and yet still manage to prepare kids for MS. Stop equating quantity of work with quality or rigor and assuming your kid is now going to be light years ahead of MCPS students. Disabusing yourself of this notion now will save you in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In ES, A means you met the grade-level standard, not that your kid was extraordinary.

We have had teachers that had higher expectations. My kid did manage to do well but many parents complained. It turns out only 2-3 kids in that class got straight A's but kids learned more from her than any other teacher.

[Anonymous]

Academic Grades



Grade Description for Elementary Standards Based Grading

A The student consistently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

B The student frequently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

C The student periodically demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

D The student rarely demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Academic Grades



Grade Description for Elementary Standards Based Grading

A The student consistently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

B The student frequently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

C The student periodically demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

D The student rarely demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

And?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Academic Grades



Grade Description for Elementary Standards Based Grading

A The student consistently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

B The student frequently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

C The student periodically demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

D The student rarely demonstrates mastery of the grade-level
standards taught this marking period.

And?

DP but it means that A in Elementary school doesn't mean extraordinary, above expectations. It means the student meets grade-level standard consistently, which makes me believe that OP is a troll, she doesn't have kids in MCPS otherwise she would have known that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

Mcps doesn’t have homework in elementary school. But there is an insane amount starting in sixth grade. So you could have saved yourself some money.

You’d better tell my kid’s 4th grade teacher there is no homework in elementary school as he has an hour a night most nights, or more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids just got their report card--mostly A's with no studying in 4th and 5th grade. Cerebrally, they are your average Potomac/ Bethesda kids, nothing more. Do schools just give everyone A's for showing up? It looks like grade inflation is rampant at MCPS, perhaps as a way to appease parents. Does anyone else agree?

What grades do you think they should have received? I don't feel like there is grade inflation at our schools. I've had two graduate from MCPS and end up at competitive colleges where they have done very well. My kids earned great grades in MCPS as well.

OP here.

I think my kids should of received mostly B's and a few C's--barely doing any homework and having average writing ability. To me that does not qualify for almost strait A's.

My kid used to get straight As too. I switched him to Catholic school and they went away. Now he gets an equal number of As, Bs and Cs. I shouldn't have to pay money to get an accurate measure of my kid's mastery of the subject.

But Catholic schools are not challenging and are well known to be far less vigorous, especially in math and science, than MCPS. So you are basically PAYING a religious school that is academically inferior to MCPS to give your child subpar grades and you are happy with this? You do realize your kid eventually has to apply out to high school or college and this no name Catholic transcript with average grades is not going to help your kid at all, right?

- Signed a parent who has had kids enrolled in both MCPS and Independent schools

Hmmm. Not challenging? My kid used to get 5-10 minutes of HW in public school. No spelling, grammar or reading except for an optional reading log. So basically nothing. Now he is expected to write and rewrite drafts of essays at home in addition to reading chapters in the assigned novel they are reading. He also prepares for class discussions for homework. This is in addition to vocab and grammar homework. He actually has math and occasional science lab write-ups to do at home. Yep, I'd say he is finally challenged. I actually am a public school teacher so I see the difference every day. My kid will be much better prepared for college than he ever would be coming from a district where it takes so little to earn top grades.

Mcps doesn’t have homework in elementary school. But there is an insane amount starting in sixth grade. So you could have saved yourself some money.

You’d better tell my kid’s 4th grade teacher there is no homework in elementary school as he has an hour a night most nights, or more.

He shouldn’t have more. The general recommendation is 10mins per grade level starting in 1st . So by 4th about 30-40 mins. Some students will finish quicker and some will take longer, but on average that should b the time.

[Anonymous]

It seems like they love to give out a few random I's early in the year so they can take credit for the improvement. It's not like these grades are based on any objective metric.

[Anonymous]

When they used to do the P ES grades our school's teachers were really harsh with the grading. Most kids got Ps but rarely ES, even if they were way many grade levels ahead. Did they get rid of this for the lower grades too?

[Anonymous]

My child cannot write a grammatical, non-run-on, punctuated complete sentence. And they get almost all A's. Grades being used to try to get rid of IEP. 4th grade. Honestly I don't know if anything is even being graded as we never see anything come back home.

[Anonymous]

Grade inflation in elementary school? Come on! There shouldn’t even be grades at that age. I think the proficiency grades are much better, though even better would just be a checklist with all of the grade level standards (rather than grouping them into one grade per subject).