Teacher didn't change a 59 TO D

[Anonymous]

Failing Spanish 1 on a class this is pretty much Hola cómo estás basis is well... failing. Having him pass, will literally be setting your kid for failure. If you can't get the basis of a language in level 1, you will 100% not succeed in the second level of this language which introduces so MANY conjugations and vocabulary. It seems like you need to be more in touch with your kid needs and grades and give him the support he needs vs waiting to the very last minute then b**** about the teacher for giving your kid the grade they worked for and got. Getting an E in a FIRST level language all it says is the effort the student put into it, as MCPS 50% rule and retakes makes it very hard to fail classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extra credit is illegal in MCPS.

Was this 59% average, or was this half 70% and half 0% rounded up to 50%?

Passing a class is punishment, not reward. Why would you want your kid to move on to a higher level class they aren’t ready for? They’ll fail that too. Regroup, try again, with a better plan with supports and checkins.

NP- I didn’t know that extra credit was illegal in the county. Is this new? My kids have never needed it, but I used to use it when I was a student.

No, this isn't new. I like doing silly bonus questions on my tests and have been teaching here for 5 years+ and since I came to this county, I haven't been able to do so, as bonus points are also illegal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My father was a teacher for 45 years, and his philosophy was that grades were determined by whether or not the student reached the appropriate threshold. In this case, in order to get a D, the student has to reach 60%.

Did your student reach 60%, OP? No? There you go.

But in this case, your complaint is particularly frivolous because you don't even have a rounding argument. A 59.10% rounds to a 59%, not a 60%. To be clear, I'd be fine if your kid had a 59.90% and still didn't get a D. But that's not the situation here.

It depends on sigfigs. 60% could be 1 sigfig so 55% rounds up. That’s basically how semester averages of 2 quarters works.

What is this gibberish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extra credit is illegal in MCPS.

Was this 59% average, or was this half 70% and half 0% rounded up to 50%?

Passing a class is punishment, not reward. Why would you want your kid to move on to a higher level class they aren’t ready for? They’ll fail that too. Regroup, try again, with a better plan with supports and checkins.

NP- I didn’t know that extra credit was illegal in the county. Is this new? My kids have never needed it, but I used to use it when I was a student.

They allow retakes on certain things instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be delighted my kid was being held responsible.

YUP! Same here. Maybe they'll take the class seriously next time since they didn't pass.

You are jerks. Some kids are barely capable of getting through high school yet in our society, you need that diploma to get a job that pays enough to live on and provides the opportunity for affordable health insurance. It sounds like OP’s kid is one of those kids. A failing grade does not necessarily mean a kid didn’t work hard in the class. Sounds like your kids don’t struggle and you should be thankful instead of condescending in a situation that is likely nothing remotely similar to your life experience.

OP, there’s a period during which you can challenge a grade. I’ve done that successfully in several classes where the IEP was not followed. There’s a deadline though so if you believe that is the case, you should look into that now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extra credit is illegal in MCPS.

Was this 59% average, or was this half 70% and half 0% rounded up to 50%?

Passing a class is punishment, not reward. Why would you want your kid to move on to a higher level class they aren’t ready for? They’ll fail that too. Regroup, try again, with a better plan with supports and checkins.

NP- I didn’t know that extra credit was illegal in the county. Is this new? My kids have never needed it, but I used to use it when I was a student.

Not new

[Anonymous]

TIL that there is a letter grade E. In my high school it was A, B, C, or F for anything below a 70. In college I learned that some schools let you "pass" with a D, which was surprising to me. Now we have Es?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry for your sons low grade. Do you know the root cause of why he was doing poorly?

SPED kid with ADHD and other learning disabilities

OP my advice is to focus your energy. You wanted the teacher to email or offer extra credit. Really? That's a low bar to hold a teacher of an IEP kid. How about teacher check-ins with your son, check for understanding, breaking down tasks into smaller chunks, encouraging the use of office hours, and parent communication during the quarter? Extra credit isn't really a thing in many classes so focus back on the class content itself, and on your son's ability to demonstrate what he has learned.

[Anonymous]

Did he not study? Spanish 1 is pretty basic. Did you help him study? Make flash cards? Go over all his assignments? Special needs aside, he clearly needs help, this has nothing to do with the teacher. He should probably repeat Spanish 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TIL that there is a letter grade E. In my high school it was A, B, C, or F for anything below a 70. In college I learned that some schools let you "pass" with a D, which was surprising to me. Now we have Es?

The E grade has been used in MCPS forever. It's really not a big deal. E is the same as "F for failing". They just use the letter because it's the next letter in the alphabet after D. Like I said, really not a big deal. As for Ds, yes you can "pass" a class with a D, but it doesn't help you transcript-wise so it's your loss if that's what you earn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TIL that there is a letter grade E. In my high school it was A, B, C, or F for anything below a 70. In college I learned that some schools let you "pass" with a D, which was surprising to me. Now we have Es?

The E grade has been used in MCPS forever. It's really not a big deal. E is the same as "F for failing". They just use the letter because it's the next letter in the alphabet after D. Like I said, really not a big deal. As for Ds, yes you can "pass" a class with a D, but it doesn't help you transcript-wise so it's your loss if that's what you earn.

That is not universal, but people who attend schools where Ds are a passing grade seem to think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TIL that there is a letter grade E. In my high school it was A, B, C, or F for anything below a 70. In college I learned that some schools let you "pass" with a D, which was surprising to me. Now we have Es?

The E grade has been used in MCPS forever. It's really not a big deal. E is the same as "F for failing". They just use the letter because it's the next letter in the alphabet after D. Like I said, really not a big deal. As for Ds, yes you can "pass" a class with a D, but it doesn't help you transcript-wise so it's your loss if that's what you earn.

No, they got rid of the F because it is associated with "Fail" and it would absolutely be terrible to suggest to a kid that they failed at anything. Even if they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Extra credit is illegal in MCPS.

Was this 59% average, or was this half 70% and half 0% rounded up to 50%?

Passing a class is punishment, not reward. Why would you want your kid to move on to a higher level class they aren’t ready for? They’ll fail that too. Regroup, try again, with a better plan with supports and checkins.

NP- I didn’t know that extra credit was illegal in the county. Is this new? My kids have never needed it, but I used to use it when I was a student.

No, this isn't new. I like doing silly bonus questions on my tests and have been teaching here for 5 years+ and since I came to this county, I haven't been able to do so, as bonus points are also illegal.

I’ve always thought MCPS’s prohibition of extra credit was stupid and counterproductive (although not as disastrous as some of their other grading policies). Some of my kids’ teachers got around it by offering “optional assignments”. I don’t know if the renaming strategy would have passed official scrutiny, but I certainly wasn’t going to report them.

[Anonymous]

No because teacher didn’t change an 89.3 to an A for my kid.
Why should yours get that benefit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TIL that there is a letter grade E. In my high school it was A, B, C, or F for anything below a 70. In college I learned that some schools let you "pass" with a D, which was surprising to me. Now we have Es?

The E grade has been used in MCPS forever. It's really not a big deal. E is the same as "F for failing". They just use the letter because it's the next letter in the alphabet after D. Like I said, really not a big deal. As for Ds, yes you can "pass" a class with a D, but it doesn't help you transcript-wise so it's your loss if that's what you earn.

No, they got rid of the F because it is associated with "Fail" and it would absolutely be terrible to suggest to a kid that they failed at anything. Even if they did.

Yes, my understanding is that MCPS got rid of Fs years ago because of the feelings it gave kids....which is ridiculous, but whatever. Least of my concerns about MCPS these days.