HS Teachers, I'm curious-- do this semester's grade distributions look different from prior years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First year teacher here so i cant compare to previous years but 40% of my 9th graders failed semester 1 of Honors English 9

??? Are you in a low-income neighborhood?

I am outside the Beltway. That is all i will say

That's unusually low. If it's in-line with your school's previous achievement, it's not you. If it's not, it's you. Be prepared to document how you did things.

It was because of zeros. We had 12 AT assignments and 12 PP assignments in Q2. 24 assignments. The kids who failed on average had 18 missing assignments. I even disobeyed the grading policy and had unlimited deadlines. Nothing. Even the

I hope you reached out to your team lead or department head to assist you in managing this. You have terrible or even catastrophic stats and really need to figure out how to work through this if you expect to keep your job. I’m not a teacher but it seems like there have to be strategies beyond extending due dates to get kids to a passing level.

Teacher here at a different school. This is not that unusual actually. Assuming that the previous teacher is at a low income/high immigrant school, you will be shocked at how appalling attendance can be. Two years ago, I had a kid who attended 5 days of school out of a full year and administrators pressured me to pass her so she could graduate. That stuff is harder to pull off now - as it should be.

You're right that I am shocked. It doesn't surprise me that some kids have bad attendance and, probably in most cases, consequently bad grades. But the numbers are what shock me. Especially given that it's an honors course. I don't understand why kids who have poor attendance would even be signing up for honors classes. Regardless, at this point, though, I would think that at least some of that would be weeded out by the attendance policy that calls for disenrollment after a certain number of absences - which actually happened to one of my kids who had to be out for medical reasons.

You mention that part of what shocks you is that this is an Honors Course. I am also a 9th grade English teacher in MCPS. Keep in mind that, at the majority of schools, Honors English is the only course offered. I've been teaching in MCPS for 28 years. I started in middle school, and for the first decade of my teaching career, the material I was teaching to 7th and 8th grade honors students was significantly more challenging than the current "honors" 9th grade curriculum. High achieving students are at such a disadvantage under the current system because there is such a wide disparity in the abilities of students that we are practically teaching the "honors" course at a remedial level.

The powers that be would tell you that "differentiation is key", but in a class of 30 students, you cannot possibly teach anyone at a level that is truly honors. In a given section, I might have half a dozen students who are diligent, high achieving students. In addition, I might have 6-8 IEP students, 3-4 ESL (English as a second language - remember these kids are being put directly into our English classes for the most part), and a handful of 504 students. Over half the class has some set of accommodations that I am legally bound to meet, along with others who probably need accommodations but have yet to be identified as such. Trust me when I say that it is the bright, capable students who want to be challenged that are falling through the cracks. If you are the parent of such a student, I highly recommend having them take as many AP courses as possible because they are the only "real" honors classes being offered in many cases.

And have you seen the literature on the new English curriculum? The novel choices in Quarter 1 include All American Boys, A Separate Peace, and a graphic novel. While the subjects may be appropriate for 9th graders, the reading level of these books is about 6th grade or so. Compare this to the literary quality of books like To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and Of Mice and Men.

[Anonymous]

In the old system, a student could earn a 79.5 (Marking Period 1) and an 89.5 (Marking Period 2) and earn an A for the semester. And they would earn the same grade as someone who earned a 98 and a 95. So yes, there are probably more students earning Bs, but the new system is a MUCH more accurate reflection of students' abilities.

[Anonymous]

To add to the English teacher's comments, the idea of "Honors For All" was that students would rise to the higher expectations because of the more rigorous content and presence of "diligent, high achieving students". However, what's happened is that the content has been reduced and the high achievers have fled to MC courses or AP by 11th grade, leaving honors classes today as a reduced version of the on-level classes I taught when I entered the system 29 years ago. The revision to the grading system was a good first step for this county. The next step would be to return to an on-level and honors option for all core academic classes that establishes a strong and rigorous standard for both, with Honors being designed with additional standards for students aspiring to 4 year degrees. Anyone should be able to sign up for the Honors (and later AP) option with reasonable levels of support for those students who need it.
Some would argue this would be inherently inequitable system. However, if the goal of equity is only accomplished by lowering academic standards, then there is a significant misunderstanding of what equity means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To add to the English teacher's comments, the idea of "Honors For All" was that students would rise to the higher expectations because of the more rigorous content and presence of "diligent, high achieving students". However, what's happened is that the content has been reduced and the high achievers have fled to MC courses or AP by 11th grade, leaving honors classes today as a reduced version of the on-level classes I taught when I entered the system 29 years ago. The revision to the grading system was a good first step for this county. The next step would be to return to an on-level and honors option for all core academic classes that establishes a strong and rigorous standard for both, with Honors being designed with additional standards for students aspiring to 4 year degrees. Anyone should be able to sign up for the Honors (and later AP) option with reasonable levels of support for those students who need it.
Some would argue this would be inherently inequitable system. However, if the goal of equity is only accomplished by lowering academic standards, then there is a significant misunderstanding of what equity means.

MCPS uses "equity" without ever meant to implement that by heart. Look the msg sent out yesterday about "why no virtual learning": because of equity and not every student brought back their laptop, we can't do virtual learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have a copy of the letter that MCPS will send with transcripts? This is news to me as a parent of a junior.

I just looked at the high school profile that is sent to colleges with transcripts for my current senior. It has a small note at the bottom that says: “ Beginning in 2025-2026, MCPS final course grades will be calculated using the average marking period percentages, which may affect GPAs. Grades on transcripts from 2025-2026 forward may not be directly comparable to those from prior years. For details, visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/grading-and-reporting.”

It’s possible other schools will make this more prominent, but it’s easy to miss on my school’s profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First year teacher here so i cant compare to previous years but 40% of my 9th graders failed semester 1 of Honors English 9

??? Are you in a low-income neighborhood?

I am outside the Beltway. That is all i will say

That's unusually low. If it's in-line with your school's previous achievement, it's not you. If it's not, it's you. Be prepared to document how you did things.

It was because of zeros. We had 12 AT assignments and 12 PP assignments in Q2. 24 assignments. The kids who failed on average had 18 missing assignments. I even disobeyed the grading policy and had unlimited deadlines. Nothing. Even the

I hope you reached out to your team lead or department head to assist you in managing this. You have terrible or even catastrophic stats and really need to figure out how to work through this if you expect to keep your job. I’m not a teacher but it seems like there have to be strategies beyond extending due dates to get kids to a passing level.

Teacher here at a different school. This is not that unusual actually. Assuming that the previous teacher is at a low income/high immigrant school, you will be shocked at how appalling attendance can be. Two years ago, I had a kid who attended 5 days of school out of a full year and administrators pressured me to pass her so she could graduate. That stuff is harder to pull off now - as it should be.

You're right that I am shocked. It doesn't surprise me that some kids have bad attendance and, probably in most cases, consequently bad grades. But the numbers are what shock me. Especially given that it's an honors course. I don't understand why kids who have poor attendance would even be signing up for honors classes. Regardless, at this point, though, I would think that at least some of that would be weeded out by the attendance policy that calls for disenrollment after a certain number of absences - which actually happened to one of my kids who had to be out for medical reasons.

You mention that part of what shocks you is that this is an Honors Course. I am also a 9th grade English teacher in MCPS. Keep in mind that, at the majority of schools, Honors English is the only course offered. I've been teaching in MCPS for 28 years. I started in middle school, and for the first decade of my teaching career, the material I was teaching to 7th and 8th grade honors students was significantly more challenging than the current "honors" 9th grade curriculum. High achieving students are at such a disadvantage under the current system because there is such a wide disparity in the abilities of students that we are practically teaching the "honors" course at a remedial level.

The powers that be would tell you that "differentiation is key", but in a class of 30 students, you cannot possibly teach anyone at a level that is truly honors. In a given section, I might have half a dozen students who are diligent, high achieving students. In addition, I might have 6-8 IEP students, 3-4 ESL (English as a second language - remember these kids are being put directly into our English classes for the most part), and a handful of 504 students. Over half the class has some set of accommodations that I am legally bound to meet, along with others who probably need accommodations but have yet to be identified as such. Trust me when I say that it is the bright, capable students who want to be challenged that are falling through the cracks. If you are the parent of such a student, I highly recommend having them take as many AP courses as possible because they are the only "real" honors classes being offered in many cases.

And have you seen the literature on the new English curriculum? The novel choices in Quarter 1 include All American Boys, A Separate Peace, and a graphic novel. While the subjects may be appropriate for 9th graders, the reading level of these books is about 6th grade or so. Compare this to the literary quality of books like To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and Of Mice and Men.

Plenty of students are bright, capable, diligent, high achieving and also have a 504 or other accommodations. Let’s not say those are mutually exclusive, please. And my 9th grader did read Of Mice and Men in Honors English 9 this year. Did the students do lots of critical analysis? Unfortunately no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got his first C (low B in Q1 and mid C in Q2 - would've been a B under the old system) - plus 1 B and 5 As. These grades a more accurate reflection of his work, but it seems unfair for this to happen junior year, even with the letter MCPS will send with transcripts explaining the change. I also have a 9th grader and have no issues with the new grading system overall.

Teacher here. A C in a MCPS course is pretty bad. It means your kid doesn’t know the content. It is not hard to earn a C. Either your kid is not understanding the content even at a basic level or your kid has bad executive functioning and is not turning in assignments. Does your kid ever go to office hours for extra support?

[Anonymous]

Another teacher here. Agreeing with others that Honors classes are the new onlevel classes. I’m a strong teacher who has been teaching for 10 years and I have yet to figure out how to differentiate instruction effectively

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To add to the English teacher's comments, the idea of "Honors For All" was that students would rise to the higher expectations because of the more rigorous content and presence of "diligent, high achieving students". However, what's happened is that the content has been reduced and the high achievers have fled to MC courses or AP by 11th grade, leaving honors classes today as a reduced version of the on-level classes I taught when I entered the system 29 years ago. The revision to the grading system was a good first step for this county. The next step would be to return to an on-level and honors option for all core academic classes that establishes a strong and rigorous standard for both, with Honors being designed with additional standards for students aspiring to 4 year degrees. Anyone should be able to sign up for the Honors (and later AP) option with reasonable levels of support for those students who need it.
Some would argue this would be inherently inequitable system. However, if the goal of equity is only accomplished by lowering academic standards, then there is a significant misunderstanding of what equity means.

Just keep repeating “Diversity is our strength” until these thought-crimes disappear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First year teacher here so i cant compare to previous years but 40% of my 9th graders failed semester 1 of Honors English 9

??? Are you in a low-income neighborhood?

I am outside the Beltway. That is all i will say

That's unusually low. If it's in-line with your school's previous achievement, it's not you. If it's not, it's you. Be prepared to document how you did things.

It was because of zeros. We had 12 AT assignments and 12 PP assignments in Q2. 24 assignments. The kids who failed on average had 18 missing assignments. I even disobeyed the grading policy and had unlimited deadlines. Nothing. Even the

I hope you reached out to your team lead or department head to assist you in managing this. You have terrible or even catastrophic stats and really need to figure out how to work through this if you expect to keep your job. I’m not a teacher but it seems like there have to be strategies beyond extending due dates to get kids to a passing level.

Teacher here at a different school. This is not that unusual actually. Assuming that the previous teacher is at a low income/high immigrant school, you will be shocked at how appalling attendance can be. Two years ago, I had a kid who attended 5 days of school out of a full year and administrators pressured me to pass her so she could graduate. That stuff is harder to pull off now - as it should be.

You're right that I am shocked. It doesn't surprise me that some kids have bad attendance and, probably in most cases, consequently bad grades. But the numbers are what shock me. Especially given that it's an honors course. I don't understand why kids who have poor attendance would even be signing up for honors classes. Regardless, at this point, though, I would think that at least some of that would be weeded out by the attendance policy that calls for disenrollment after a certain number of absences - which actually happened to one of my kids who had to be out for medical reasons.

You mention that part of what shocks you is that this is an Honors Course. I am also a 9th grade English teacher in MCPS. Keep in mind that, at the majority of schools, Honors English is the only course offered. I've been teaching in MCPS for 28 years. I started in middle school, and for the first decade of my teaching career, the material I was teaching to 7th and 8th grade honors students was significantly more challenging than the current "honors" 9th grade curriculum. High achieving students are at such a disadvantage under the current system because there is such a wide disparity in the abilities of students that we are practically teaching the "honors" course at a remedial level.

The powers that be would tell you that "differentiation is key", but in a class of 30 students, you cannot possibly teach anyone at a level that is truly honors. In a given section, I might have half a dozen students who are diligent, high achieving students. In addition, I might have 6-8 IEP students, 3-4 ESL (English as a second language - remember these kids are being put directly into our English classes for the most part), and a handful of 504 students. Over half the class has some set of accommodations that I am legally bound to meet, along with others who probably need accommodations but have yet to be identified as such. Trust me when I say that it is the bright, capable students who want to be challenged that are falling through the cracks. If you are the parent of such a student, I highly recommend having them take as many AP courses as possible because they are the only "real" honors classes being offered in many cases.

And have you seen the literature on the new English curriculum? The novel choices in Quarter 1 include All American Boys, A Separate Peace, and a graphic novel. While the subjects may be appropriate for 9th graders, the reading level of these books is about 6th grade or so. Compare this to the literary quality of books like To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and Of Mice and Men.

Plenty of students are bright, capable, diligent, high achieving and also have a 504 or other accommodations. Let’s not say those are mutually exclusive, please. And my 9th grader did read Of Mice and Men in Honors English 9 this year. Did the students do lots of critical analysis? Unfortunately no.

You are exactly right. I did not mean to imply that students with accommodations are not bright or capable. I only meant to illustrate the wide variety of needs across a typical honors classroom. It can be a challenge to differentiate instruction for a group of students even when their skills are within a rather narrow range. But when trying to meet the needs of students with a very large range of skills, especially when keeping in mind everyone's individual accommodations, it becomes nearly impossible.

[Anonymous]

We got too used to simply handing out As to the point that students and parents expect their kids should get and A when the reality is that an A should only be awarded for excellent work.

In my class I tell the students that if an assignment has a 300-600 word expectation, if you clock in closer to 300 words, don't expect an A. You do bare minimum effort you're going to get a bare minimum grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. It has to change. DD's AP Calc BC teacher warned us at BTSN that our kids, maybe for the first time in their lives, would have Bs. And it's true - DD has an A for the semester, but a B for the last quarter. Her first B in math.

I love this new grading policy, BTW. It's so much more fair than the previous one.

Explain that to me like I'm five. Are you one of these people who think grading needs to be on a bell curve to be "fair?"

PP you replied to. I hated the old system of using quarter letter grades to determine semester letter grades. That's not granular enough. It's much more accurate to calculate the average of the number grade for each quarter to get the semester grade, and then convert that to a letter.

Ideally, we wouldn't even have letter grades. We would just stick to numbers. This is how most of the world does it.

I don't know what you're referring regarding bell curves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got his first C (low B in Q1 and mid C in Q2 - would've been a B under the old system) - plus 1 B and 5 As. These grades a more accurate reflection of his work, but it seems unfair for this to happen junior year, even with the letter MCPS will send with transcripts explaining the change. I also have a 9th grader and have no issues with the new grading system overall.

Teacher here. A C in a MCPS course is pretty bad. It means your kid doesn’t know the content. It is not hard to earn a C. Either your kid is not understanding the content even at a basic level or your kid has bad executive functioning and is not turning in assignments. Does your kid ever go to office hours for extra support?

He just wasn't putting in the work. It was a hard class that was not in his comfort zone and he shut down. We actually know plenty of kids with Cs in MCPS courses (it was just the first time for my kid). Some kids struggle with ADHD, LDs, etc. I don't know what course you teach, but not everyone in MCPS has a 4.9 WGPA, even though you'd think that's the case from reading DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got his first C (low B in Q1 and mid C in Q2 - would've been a B under the old system) - plus 1 B and 5 As. These grades a more accurate reflection of his work, but it seems unfair for this to happen junior year, even with the letter MCPS will send with transcripts explaining the change. I also have a 9th grader and have no issues with the new grading system overall.

Teacher here. A C in a MCPS course is pretty bad. It means your kid doesn’t know the content. It is not hard to earn a C. Either your kid is not understanding the content even at a basic level or your kid has bad executive functioning and is not turning in assignments. Does your kid ever go to office hours for extra support?

He just wasn't putting in the work. It was a hard class that was not in his comfort zone and he shut down. We actually know plenty of kids with Cs in MCPS courses (it was just the first time for my kid). Some kids struggle with ADHD, LDs, etc. I don't know what course you teach, but not everyone in MCPS has a 4.9 WGPA, even though you'd think that's the case from reading DCUM!

My apologies for boasting, but my kid with ADHD and learning disabilities had a 4.67 weighted high school GPA when he applied for college. Please don't use these diagnoses as an excuse for poor performance. They can explain some academic struggles, I agree. But then what do you do? Shrug and say "oh he's hit his ceiling"? Or actually do something about it?

[Anonymous]

HS teacher at a W school here. In some classes, a significant share of students have 504s or IEPs with flexible deadlines, which does help keep grades elevated. In my courses, overall distributions dropped and largely split between students who consistently submitted All Task work and those who did not. To esse this transition to actual deadlines with teeth, the "Achievement Team" of teachers that handles a particular course design could do this: front-load most All Task assignments in the first half of the quarter, reduce them later, and avoid new All Tasks in the final 3 weeks. I also limit Participation Points to about five assignments, weighted at 10% total, and teach students to sort the gradebook by assignment type, since PP often take disproportionate time and don’t meaningfully affect grades. Canvas allows you to reassign assignments and set unique due dates for individual students, which makes it easier to manage flexibility without creating end-of-quarter chaos.