Does FCPS have any requirements for instructors regarding posting grades in timely fashion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stand up for the teachers. The reason they aren’t grassing work quickly is because they have to cover other teacher’s classes during their planning periods.

The ones who can't do their jobs had other excuses when they weren't covering other teachers' classes. It's really quite ridiculous and just breeds cynicism and a lack of respect on the part of students when teachers can't get their act together to post grades on a timely basis.

Do some math.
Let’s say Teacher has 125 students.
It takes him, on average, 4 meninges to grade each assignment and enter that student’s grade online.
125x4=500

For one assignment, we are already talking about about 8 hours of work.

So the teacher gets 2 45 minute planning periods per day, but is covering another teacher’s class (sub shortage) leaving 45 minutes per day of planning time. That time, of course, is only useful for practical matters: answering parent emails, reading all the emails that come in from the county and administration, tidying up the classroom, making copies, etc. actual lesson planning is more time intensive; maybe it’s done for a couple of hours after school a couple of times a week, or for 5-6 hours on Sundays.

So when is all this grading happening? For 2-3 hours a night a few nights a week. On weekends. Or over long weekends and teacher workdays. Maybe, like me, a teacher has been fighting a nasty virus for the last 10 days and doesn’t have the energy or brain power to spend a few hours grading at night. We get backed up. We do our best.

Maybe what “breeds cynicism” among students is not the fact that their teachers attend working 60 hour weeks and grossly overtaxed and over stressed, but the fact that parents like you are accusing them of not “getting their act together” rather than understanding that our class sizes are unreasonably large, our requirements to cover other people’s classes due to the teacher and sub shortage is leaving us with no time to plan or grade, and our colleagues are leaving the profession in droves because it all feels close to impossible right now?

Maybe you could reach out to the teacher and see if they need any support. Maybe you could be patient. Maybe you could be kind. Maybe you could stop speaking so derisively of the people who are trying their best to help your kid.

Let’s be real. Teachers assign work or projects for kids to do in class. That actually gives the teacher time to get work done while the kids are working. Generally in middle and high school kids can work without a teacher hovering. The teacher can sit at his/her desk to check emails and grade.

Are you a teacher? I don’t do that. My 90 minute math block is:
5 minutes: attendance, warm up
25 minutes: notes/lecture
10-15 minutes: activity (quick game to practice a basic new skill, mini Kahoot! to check in how they’re doing, white board check ins)
10-15 minutes: remainder of notes/examples
30 minutes: activity 2 (usually some sort of problem set where it self checks) This is where I pull the 5-10 kids who bombed that first check in activity to a small group at the back table or hallway or just rotate and check in with each of them repeatedly while others work.
5 minutes: exit ticket, monitor to make sure kids are doing their own work.

The only time I’m not talking or helping kids directly is on test days, and then I’m walking around monitoring like a hawk because holy hell your adorable, funny children turn into sneaky, cheating cell phone users with drifting eyeballs on test days, lol

But seriously, I’ve never just sat while kids worked. I don’t think my peers do either. Maybe we are doing it wrong. School is basically a complete 180 from when I was in high school 20 years ago though. I remember my math teacher doing 30 minutes of lecture and 15 minutes free time to “start our homework” each day. That would never fly now.

thanks for recognizing that you all could be doing it all wrong. Since there are SO many check-in, exit tickets, tests, and assessments, (not to mention POG, SEL, useless stuff, there is less time across 180 days for instruction now a days. As you mentioned, teaching and the whole philosophy has changed. Learning in bulk in quarters 2 and 3 has occurred which is cramming the material and not allowing adequate time for students to practice and (gulp) even memorize some facts, this leads to a bunch of re-learning and re-takes.

[Anonymous]

This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

[Anonymous]

thanks for recognizing that you all could be doing it all wrong. Since there are SO many check-in, exit tickets, tests, and assessments, (not to mention POG, SEL, useless stuff, there is less time across 180 days for instruction now a days. As you mentioned, teaching and the whole philosophy has changed. Learning in bulk in quarters 2 and 3 has occurred which is cramming the material and not allowing adequate time for students to practice and (gulp) even memorize some facts, this leads to a bunch of re-learning and re-takes.

I mean, with block schedule an exit ticket a day is the equivalent of a 1 question check in every/other day, which doesn't seem excessive? Don't you want the teachers to know your kid is struggling before they take the quiz? Or would you rather have a unit test every 3 weeks only?

Personally, I think the real issue is block scheduling (with math at least). 45 minutes a day would allow for the lesson to be one day and the second day (after the brain has processed the info) to be practice. Or to split the topic into tiny, manageable pieces instead of fitting 2-3 standards into a single block.
Latent learning is a thing! As it is now, it's all crammed into 1 day and then 48 hours later it's a brand new topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD has an elective with multiple time consuming assignments a week and the teacher has not posted any grades. There is no way she is going to be able to keep up with grading if she is struggling so much the first month. Plus, they have no idea if they are doing assignments properly and she avoids helping for the part they get done in class. Are there any requirements for posting? This is not like grading English assignments which is labor intensive.

If your kid is struggling, you and your kid need to communicate with the teacher. Stop posting “customer service complaints” on anonymous boards. FCPS schools can have many expectations and requirements of their teachers… and most of those have nothing to do with teaching. We are security guards, therapists, monitors, babysitters and behavioral managers. Be polite, respectful, and gracious when you communicate with your teacher, by the way, or you’ll poison the well for the rest of the year.

Already done graciously. Teacher said would appear over a week ago. Nada.

Well, you get what you pay for and this isn’t really a service industry anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

Within a week? Good luck with that and all your other expectations. You have no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

You all don’t realize that all teachers would like to focus on teaching. We really would. Unfortunately we are a free and easily used labor source for administration and end up as the duct tape that makes schools which don’t have enough counselors, security guards, substitute teachers, or test administrators — keep running. I have little to no time outside of class to plan and grade and I am unwilling to use my weekends or evenings to do extra work. I’m not paid near enough to be working 70 hour weeks.

In any case, you might try to suck it up and appreciate whatever feedback and attention you get, when you get it. You might feel entitled to certain “services” from your teacher but what are you going to do if you don’t get what you think you should get? If you complain to administration, you can bet that you will not be winning the affection of your kid’s teacher and you are probably hastening the teacher exodus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

You all don’t realize that all teachers would like to focus on teaching. We really would. Unfortunately we are a free and easily used labor source for administration and end up as the duct tape that makes schools which don’t have enough counselors, security guards, substitute teachers, or test administrators — keep running. I have little to no time outside of class to plan and grade and I am unwilling to use my weekends or evenings to do extra work. I’m not paid near enough to be working 70 hour weeks.

In any case, you might try to suck it up and appreciate whatever feedback and attention you get, when you get it. You might feel entitled to certain “services” from your teacher but what are you going to do if you don’t get what you think you should get? If you complain to administration, you can bet that you will not be winning the affection of your kid’s teacher and you are probably hastening the teacher exodus.

I cannot imagine having this attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

You all don’t realize that all teachers would like to focus on teaching. We really would. Unfortunately we are a free and easily used labor source for administration and end up as the duct tape that makes schools which don’t have enough counselors, security guards, substitute teachers, or test administrators — keep running. I have little to no time outside of class to plan and grade and I am unwilling to use my weekends or evenings to do extra work. I’m not paid near enough to be working 70 hour weeks.

In any case, you might try to suck it up and appreciate whatever feedback and attention you get, when you get it. You might feel entitled to certain “services” from your teacher but what are you going to do if you don’t get what you think you should get? If you complain to administration, you can bet that you will not be winning the affection of your kid’s teacher and you are probably hastening the teacher exodus.

I cannot imagine having this attitude.

I think you're going to see it more and more out of necessity. "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit" is going to apply to everyone in education--teachers, parents, students, admin. The current system is working for no one.

[Anonymous]

Parents should be fighting for teachers to get more time in the day to complete work. Teacher Work Days should be unencumbered. If every teacher in the county had 90 mins of unencumbered time daily, you would see a huge shift in productivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

You all don’t realize that all teachers would like to focus on teaching. We really would. Unfortunately we are a free and easily used labor source for administration and end up as the duct tape that makes schools which don’t have enough counselors, security guards, substitute teachers, or test administrators — keep running. I have little to no time outside of class to plan and grade and I am unwilling to use my weekends or evenings to do extra work. I’m not paid near enough to be working 70 hour weeks.

In any case, you might try to suck it up and appreciate whatever feedback and attention you get, when you get it. You might feel entitled to certain “services” from your teacher but what are you going to do if you don’t get what you think you should get? If you complain to administration, you can bet that you will not be winning the affection of your kid’s teacher and you are probably hastening the teacher exodus.

I cannot imagine having this attitude.

Well, if you and your kid aren’t communicating with your teacher, I think throwing a fit might not have the consequences you expect. A lot of teachers are just numb to criticism at this point - it’s not possible to do enough or to meet everyone’s expectations. if anything, it’s likely to be “the straw” that breaks them.

[Anonymous]

This is a long-standing problem in FCPS with terrible consequences for students. But most teachers, particularly those who post here, will be incredibly defensive about it. They, quite frankly, do not seem to think that grading is important enough to prioritize over other tasks. And administrators must agree because there is never any change.

I'd lodge concerns, in writing, to the counselor and principle, but do not expect any change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1079069.page

This thread is barely cold and another has begun

Because this is a critical and incredibly frustrating issue that FCPS shows no indication of recognizing, much less improving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stand up for the teachers. The reason they aren’t grassing work quickly is because they have to cover other teacher’s classes during their planning periods.

The ones who can't do their jobs had other excuses when they weren't covering other teachers' classes. It's really quite ridiculous and just breeds cynicism and a lack of respect on the part of students when teachers can't get their act together to post grades on a timely basis.

Is grading and posting grades more labor intensive now than they were in the 80s? Is it lack of time during the school day to grade work? Genuinely curious. We had larger classes where I went to school and teachers turn homework and tests around quicker. My MS and HS kid don’t get many assignments back u til after the unit tests or quizzes on the test topics. And much of what is returned isn’t actually checked for accuracy — just that work was done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stand up for the teachers. The reason they aren’t grassing work quickly is because they have to cover other teacher’s classes during their planning periods.

The ones who can't do their jobs had other excuses when they weren't covering other teachers' classes. It's really quite ridiculous and just breeds cynicism and a lack of respect on the part of students when teachers can't get their act together to post grades on a timely basis.

Do some math.
Let’s say Teacher has 125 students.
It takes him, on average, 4 meninges to grade each assignment and enter that student’s grade online.
125x4=500

For one assignment, we are already talking about about 8 hours of work.

So the teacher gets 2 45 minute planning periods per day, but is covering another teacher’s class (sub shortage) leaving 45 minutes per day of planning time. That time, of course, is only useful for practical matters: answering parent emails, reading all the emails that come in from the county and administration, tidying up the classroom, making copies, etc. actual lesson planning is more time intensive; maybe it’s done for a couple of hours after school a couple of times a week, or for 5-6 hours on Sundays.

So when is all this grading happening? For 2-3 hours a night a few nights a week. On weekends. Or over long weekends and teacher workdays. Maybe, like me, a teacher has been fighting a nasty virus for the last 10 days and doesn’t have the energy or brain power to spend a few hours grading at night. We get backed up. We do our best.

Maybe what “breeds cynicism” among students is not the fact that their teachers attend working 60 hour weeks and grossly overtaxed and over stressed, but the fact that parents like you are accusing them of not “getting their act together” rather than understanding that our class sizes are unreasonably large, our requirements to cover other people’s classes due to the teacher and sub shortage is leaving us with no time to plan or grade, and our colleagues are leaving the profession in droves because it all feels close to impossible right now?

Maybe you could reach out to the teacher and see if they need any support. Maybe you could be patient. Maybe you could be kind. Maybe you could stop speaking so derisively of the people who are trying their best to help your kid.

Gosh. I only see this problem getting worse. my gut says the teacher crisis / shortage is about to get even worse in the next five years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an ongoing issue and I'm not a teacher hater, I respect teachers, but this happens consistently in my experience with high school.

Last year, my child received a poor grade for the quarter and the teacher contacted us with concerns about the student's performance -- this was once the quarter was over. I asked how does it get to this point? Shouldn't there have obvious signs the quarter wasn't going well? Teacher didn't know until after the quarter was done as the grades weren't done until the end of the quarter and she assumed everything was okay since the kid did fine the previous quarter.

Grading should happen consistently and timely throughout a quarter so that kids know where they stand, parents can check in and see what's going on, and teachers know if they need to course adjust.

I don't expect grading to happen instantaneously, but it should happen within a week of an assignment being handed in or a test being completed.

You all don’t realize that all teachers would like to focus on teaching. We really would. Unfortunately we are a free and easily used labor source for administration and end up as the duct tape that makes schools which don’t have enough counselors, security guards, substitute teachers, or test administrators — keep running. I have little to no time outside of class to plan and grade and I am unwilling to use my weekends or evenings to do extra work. I’m not paid near enough to be working 70 hour weeks.

In any case, you might try to suck it up and appreciate whatever feedback and attention you get, when you get it. You might feel entitled to certain “services” from your teacher but what are you going to do if you don’t get what you think you should get? If you complain to administration, you can bet that you will not be winning the affection of your kid’s teacher and you are probably hastening the teacher exodus.

I cannot imagine having this attitude.

Well, if you and your kid aren’t communicating with your teacher, I think throwing a fit might not have the consequences you expect. A lot of teachers are just numb to criticism at this point - it’s not possible to do enough or to meet everyone’s expectations. if anything, it’s likely to be “the straw” that breaks them.

Our HS explicitly told parents to butt out. Only students should be engaging with teachers. BTSN for SY2022-23. On one hand I get it, but if you don’t see the timely metrics showing you whether your child is struggling (end of quarter), you guide your child to get help.

It is also hard to distinguish (at the MS and HS levels) what is counted as homework versus class work that a student can finish at home if they need more time. Homework cannot be more than 10% of the grade. Classroom work can be a lot more. It’s a subtle work around.