The deflated grading is just exhausting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (3 kids) I think what happens in part is that these schools grade to the smartest kid in the room and then curve down accordingly. For instance, there will be one kid (or a handful) in sophomore English who can write an essay worthy of a senior seminar class in a college English class. So there are your As. And the grades go down from that. The kids who are just "very good writers" and turn in "very good for a sophomore in high school" level work get a B.

It's the same in math. My kid is currently in math class beyond calculus. She has a perfect math SAT score. She's good at math but this class is HARD. The average on tests is about a 75. But there is always one kid who manages to get a 98. So there goes any curve or corrections. There is your A. And everyone goes down from there.

I don't know what other schools or districts do in these cases when you have a few extreme outliers. The kids at these top privates are almost all very strong students and were admitted to the private (most of them) because they were at the top at their sending schools. But in each subject there tend to be few kids who is outlandishly gifted. And then they scoop up the 2 As in that class.

That’s what they will encounter in life. Your daughter has a perfect SAT math score but that’s not difficult math. Now she’s in a difficult math class.

If there’s only one kid who can completely and accurately complete the math test then there is only one A. Why would someone who couldn’t finish the test accurately get an A?

There’s a hypocrisy here. A lot of sneers about public schools handing out “A”s for students who get 70% on tests and then complaining when the private school doesn’t do the same.

The extremely smart kids in the real 99th percentile will get all As. And down the line it goes. If there are a few students who accomplish mastering the class that means it can be done and students not doing as well shouldn’t minimize their achievement by whining No Fair!

That's really not how grading works. In college, the scores set the curve, but no college says you have to get the highest score in order to get an A...that simply helps increase the median/mean score and possibly drives a wider standard deviation.

At my kid's Top3 college there is one class where the mean is like a 48 out of 100. If you get a 48, that is an A-. In that one class, everyone was pretty well clustered between a 35 - 60...with the exception of one kid at a 98 (and unfortunately, many kids scoring like between 4 to 10). So, a 98 would be an A+++ if that could be awarded, but a 35 was a B/B-, and basically, a 50 or higher was an A.

That is how curved grading works. If the schools folks are complaining about graded this way...doubt it would be a problem.

I get that colleges use the curved grade system. But not every high school does curved grading. Critics think it brings motivation way down in high school. They find out they only have to know half the curriculum to get an “A” so no need to master the class.

That's interesting, because my university, which is known as a pressure cooker, has been doing away with curved grading, or at least encouraging professors not to use the curve. The rationale is that curving creates too much pressure and encourages intense competition between students.

I understand what you are saying. I recall back in my day that the organic chemistry class (the traditional premed weed out class) had a 97 mean, so you thought you did well with your 93, but that was a B-. However, the flip side is that if a class is run where you should expect the mean to be a 50 and only literally 1 or 2 kids scores above a 65 (out of 200+)...then the entire class would basically fail.

I went to a school that curved to a B-. I thought it was fair because easy and tough grading professors were removed from the equation

Same. And it varied tremendously from exam to exam and class to class what the average score was. Sometimes the average was an 85% and other times it might be a 40%. This works well in very large classes, but I can't imagine it working well in small seminars where only 10 people are submitting essays. They could all be fantastic, or they could all be horrible essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (3 kids) I think what happens in part is that these schools grade to the smartest kid in the room and then curve down accordingly. For instance, there will be one kid (or a handful) in sophomore English who can write an essay worthy of a senior seminar class in a college English class. So there are your As. And the grades go down from that. The kids who are just "very good writers" and turn in "very good for a sophomore in high school" level work get a B.

It's the same in math. My kid is currently in math class beyond calculus. She has a perfect math SAT score. She's good at math but this class is HARD. The average on tests is about a 75. But there is always one kid who manages to get a 98. So there goes any curve or corrections. There is your A. And everyone goes down from there.

I don't know what other schools or districts do in these cases when you have a few extreme outliers. The kids at these top privates are almost all very strong students and were admitted to the private (most of them) because they were at the top at their sending schools. But in each subject there tend to be few kids who is outlandishly gifted. And then they scoop up the 2 As in that class.

That’s what they will encounter in life. Your daughter has a perfect SAT math score but that’s not difficult math. Now she’s in a difficult math class.

If there’s only one kid who can completely and accurately complete the math test then there is only one A. Why would someone who couldn’t finish the test accurately get an A?

There’s a hypocrisy here. A lot of sneers about public schools handing out “A”s for students who get 70% on tests and then complaining when the private school doesn’t do the same.

The extremely smart kids in the real 99th percentile will get all As. And down the line it goes. If there are a few students who accomplish mastering the class that means it can be done and students not doing as well shouldn’t minimize their achievement by whining No Fair!

That's really not how grading works. In college, the scores set the curve, but no college says you have to get the highest score in order to get an A...that simply helps increase the median/mean score and possibly drives a wider standard deviation.

At my kid's Top3 college there is one class where the mean is like a 48 out of 100. If you get a 48, that is an A-. In that one class, everyone was pretty well clustered between a 35 - 60...with the exception of one kid at a 98 (and unfortunately, many kids scoring like between 4 to 10). So, a 98 would be an A+++ if that could be awarded, but a 35 was a B/B-, and basically, a 50 or higher was an A.

That is how curved grading works. If the schools folks are complaining about graded this way...doubt it would be a problem.

I’m a teacher. If only one student in a class full of bright, engaged learners who are devoting multiple hours per week to my course work is earning an A, that is my issue. Either I’m not doing a good job preparing lessons and content or the test doesn’t reflect the course level/material.

In the example above the teacher purposely creates "impossible" tests...but, yes there is usually 1 kid (out of 250 across the sections) that is just way above everyone else. This is how you figure out the true genius-like kid vs. all the other kids (again, this HYP) who are just really smart.

Not sure if that is your approach as a teacher, but it is not entirely unusual.

It is not the job of a single teacher (or each teacher) to identify the 1 kid that is truly exceptional above all others by never giving A's to others. The way to do that is in a letter of recommendation. You do not dismiss the achievements of everyone else. But this is definitely how many Sidwell teachers like to operate, like it's a badge of honor to be the hardest class at the school. Great - yet nobody tells colleges this. (and it's even worse when it's a class that has many sections and other teachers don't have the same grading rubric)

The teachers aren’t identifying anyone, the grades are. If only 2 students are able to complete an exam accurately that makes them standouts. The other students didn’t achieve anything so what is there to dismiss?

If the teacher is teaching content that’s inappropriate for their grade I can understand the problem. But if you enroll in a top school known for its tough academics that’s a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (3 kids) I think what happens in part is that these schools grade to the smartest kid in the room and then curve down accordingly. For instance, there will be one kid (or a handful) in sophomore English who can write an essay worthy of a senior seminar class in a college English class. So there are your As. And the grades go down from that. The kids who are just "very good writers" and turn in "very good for a sophomore in high school" level work get a B.

It's the same in math. My kid is currently in math class beyond calculus. She has a perfect math SAT score. She's good at math but this class is HARD. The average on tests is about a 75. But there is always one kid who manages to get a 98. So there goes any curve or corrections. There is your A. And everyone goes down from there.

I don't know what other schools or districts do in these cases when you have a few extreme outliers. The kids at these top privates are almost all very strong students and were admitted to the private (most of them) because they were at the top at their sending schools. But in each subject there tend to be few kids who is outlandishly gifted. And then they scoop up the 2 As in that class.

That’s what they will encounter in life. Your daughter has a perfect SAT math score but that’s not difficult math. Now she’s in a difficult math class.

If there’s only one kid who can completely and accurately complete the math test then there is only one A. Why would someone who couldn’t finish the test accurately get an A?

There’s a hypocrisy here. A lot of sneers about public schools handing out “A”s for students who get 70% on tests and then complaining when the private school doesn’t do the same.

The extremely smart kids in the real 99th percentile will get all As. And down the line it goes. If there are a few students who accomplish mastering the class that means it can be done and students not doing as well shouldn’t minimize their achievement by whining No Fair!

That's really not how grading works. In college, the scores set the curve, but no college says you have to get the highest score in order to get an A...that simply helps increase the median/mean score and possibly drives a wider standard deviation.

At my kid's Top3 college there is one class where the mean is like a 48 out of 100. If you get a 48, that is an A-. In that one class, everyone was pretty well clustered between a 35 - 60...with the exception of one kid at a 98 (and unfortunately, many kids scoring like between 4 to 10). So, a 98 would be an A+++ if that could be awarded, but a 35 was a B/B-, and basically, a 50 or higher was an A.

That is how curved grading works. If the schools folks are complaining about graded this way...doubt it would be a problem.

I’m a teacher. If only one student in a class full of bright, engaged learners who are devoting multiple hours per week to my course work is earning an A, that is my issue. Either I’m not doing a good job preparing lessons and content or the test doesn’t reflect the course level/material.

In the example above the teacher purposely creates "impossible" tests...but, yes there is usually 1 kid (out of 250 across the sections) that is just way above everyone else. This is how you figure out the true genius-like kid vs. all the other kids (again, this HYP) who are just really smart.

Not sure if that is your approach as a teacher, but it is not entirely unusual.

It is not the job of a single teacher (or each teacher) to identify the 1 kid that is truly exceptional above all others by never giving A's to others. The way to do that is in a letter of recommendation. You do not dismiss the achievements of everyone else. But this is definitely how many Sidwell teachers like to operate, like it's a badge of honor to be the hardest class at the school. Great - yet nobody tells colleges this. (and it's even worse when it's a class that has many sections and other teachers don't have the same grading rubric)

The teachers aren’t identifying anyone, the grades are. If only 2 students are able to complete an exam accurately that makes them standouts. The other students didn’t achieve anything so what is there to dismiss?

If the teacher is teaching content that’s inappropriate for their grade I can understand the problem. But if you enroll in a top school known for its tough academics that’s a different story.

If only two students are succeeding, and the class as a whole is putting in appropriate effort, the content is inappropriate for the grade or the teacher is ineffective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (3 kids) I think what happens in part is that these schools grade to the smartest kid in the room and then curve down accordingly. For instance, there will be one kid (or a handful) in sophomore English who can write an essay worthy of a senior seminar class in a college English class. So there are your As. And the grades go down from that. The kids who are just "very good writers" and turn in "very good for a sophomore in high school" level work get a B.

It's the same in math. My kid is currently in math class beyond calculus. She has a perfect math SAT score. She's good at math but this class is HARD. The average on tests is about a 75. But there is always one kid who manages to get a 98. So there goes any curve or corrections. There is your A. And everyone goes down from there.

I don't know what other schools or districts do in these cases when you have a few extreme outliers. The kids at these top privates are almost all very strong students and were admitted to the private (most of them) because they were at the top at their sending schools. But in each subject there tend to be few kids who is outlandishly gifted. And then they scoop up the 2 As in that class.

That’s what they will encounter in life. Your daughter has a perfect SAT math score but that’s not difficult math. Now she’s in a difficult math class.

If there’s only one kid who can completely and accurately complete the math test then there is only one A. Why would someone who couldn’t finish the test accurately get an A?

There’s a hypocrisy here. A lot of sneers about public schools handing out “A”s for students who get 70% on tests and then complaining when the private school doesn’t do the same.

The extremely smart kids in the real 99th percentile will get all As. And down the line it goes. If there are a few students who accomplish mastering the class that means it can be done and students not doing as well shouldn’t minimize their achievement by whining No Fair!

That's really not how grading works. In college, the scores set the curve, but no college says you have to get the highest score in order to get an A...that simply helps increase the median/mean score and possibly drives a wider standard deviation.

At my kid's Top3 college there is one class where the mean is like a 48 out of 100. If you get a 48, that is an A-. In that one class, everyone was pretty well clustered between a 35 - 60...with the exception of one kid at a 98 (and unfortunately, many kids scoring like between 4 to 10). So, a 98 would be an A+++ if that could be awarded, but a 35 was a B/B-, and basically, a 50 or higher was an A.

That is how curved grading works. If the schools folks are complaining about graded this way...doubt it would be a problem.

I’m a teacher. If only one student in a class full of bright, engaged learners who are devoting multiple hours per week to my course work is earning an A, that is my issue. Either I’m not doing a good job preparing lessons and content or the test doesn’t reflect the course level/material.

In the example above the teacher purposely creates "impossible" tests...but, yes there is usually 1 kid (out of 250 across the sections) that is just way above everyone else. This is how you figure out the true genius-like kid vs. all the other kids (again, this HYP) who are just really smart.

Not sure if that is your approach as a teacher, but it is not entirely unusual.

It is not the job of a single teacher (or each teacher) to identify the 1 kid that is truly exceptional above all others by never giving A's to others. The way to do that is in a letter of recommendation. You do not dismiss the achievements of everyone else. But this is definitely how many Sidwell teachers like to operate, like it's a badge of honor to be the hardest class at the school. Great - yet nobody tells colleges this. (and it's even worse when it's a class that has many sections and other teachers don't have the same grading rubric)

The teachers aren’t identifying anyone, the grades are. If only 2 students are able to complete an exam accurately that makes them standouts. The other students didn’t achieve anything so what is there to dismiss?

If the teacher is teaching content that’s inappropriate for their grade I can understand the problem. But if you enroll in a top school known for its tough academics that’s a different story.

If only two students are succeeding, and the class as a whole is putting in appropriate effort, the content is inappropriate for the grade or the teacher is ineffective.

Probably but that’s not the same claim that the others students achievements are dismissed. They didn’t achieve anything.

What about when 50% of the class accurately completes the exam but 50% can only get half of it right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (3 kids) I think what happens in part is that these schools grade to the smartest kid in the room and then curve down accordingly. For instance, there will be one kid (or a handful) in sophomore English who can write an essay worthy of a senior seminar class in a college English class. So there are your As. And the grades go down from that. The kids who are just "very good writers" and turn in "very good for a sophomore in high school" level work get a B.

It's the same in math. My kid is currently in math class beyond calculus. She has a perfect math SAT score. She's good at math but this class is HARD. The average on tests is about a 75. But there is always one kid who manages to get a 98. So there goes any curve or corrections. There is your A. And everyone goes down from there.

I don't know what other schools or districts do in these cases when you have a few extreme outliers. The kids at these top privates are almost all very strong students and were admitted to the private (most of them) because they were at the top at their sending schools. But in each subject there tend to be few kids who is outlandishly gifted. And then they scoop up the 2 As in that class.

That’s what they will encounter in life. Your daughter has a perfect SAT math score but that’s not difficult math. Now she’s in a difficult math class.

If there’s only one kid who can completely and accurately complete the math test then there is only one A. Why would someone who couldn’t finish the test accurately get an A?

There’s a hypocrisy here. A lot of sneers about public schools handing out “A”s for students who get 70% on tests and then complaining when the private school doesn’t do the same.

The extremely smart kids in the real 99th percentile will get all As. And down the line it goes. If there are a few students who accomplish mastering the class that means it can be done and students not doing as well shouldn’t minimize their achievement by whining No Fair!

That's really not how grading works. In college, the scores set the curve, but no college says you have to get the highest score in order to get an A...that simply helps increase the median/mean score and possibly drives a wider standard deviation.

At my kid's Top3 college there is one class where the mean is like a 48 out of 100. If you get a 48, that is an A-. In that one class, everyone was pretty well clustered between a 35 - 60...with the exception of one kid at a 98 (and unfortunately, many kids scoring like between 4 to 10). So, a 98 would be an A+++ if that could be awarded, but a 35 was a B/B-, and basically, a 50 or higher was an A.

That is how curved grading works. If the schools folks are complaining about graded this way...doubt it would be a problem.

I’m a teacher. If only one student in a class full of bright, engaged learners who are devoting multiple hours per week to my course work is earning an A, that is my issue. Either I’m not doing a good job preparing lessons and content or the test doesn’t reflect the course level/material.

In the example above the teacher purposely creates "impossible" tests...but, yes there is usually 1 kid (out of 250 across the sections) that is just way above everyone else. This is how you figure out the true genius-like kid vs. all the other kids (again, this HYP) who are just really smart.

Not sure if that is your approach as a teacher, but it is not entirely unusual.

It is not the job of a single teacher (or each teacher) to identify the 1 kid that is truly exceptional above all others by never giving A's to others. The way to do that is in a letter of recommendation. You do not dismiss the achievements of everyone else. But this is definitely how many Sidwell teachers like to operate, like it's a badge of honor to be the hardest class at the school. Great - yet nobody tells colleges this. (and it's even worse when it's a class that has many sections and other teachers don't have the same grading rubric)

The teachers aren’t identifying anyone, the grades are. If only 2 students are able to complete an exam accurately that makes them standouts. The other students didn’t achieve anything so what is there to dismiss?

If the teacher is teaching content that’s inappropriate for their grade I can understand the problem. But if you enroll in a top school known for its tough academics that’s a different story.

If only two students are succeeding, and the class as a whole is putting in appropriate effort, the content is inappropriate for the grade or the teacher is ineffective.

Probably but that’s not the same claim that the others students achievements are dismissed. They didn’t achieve anything.

What about when 50% of the class accurately completes the exam but 50% can only get half of it right?

Again, that’s my issue to address as a teacher if they are accurately leveled in the course. If I missed half the class I need to change tactics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The point of going to a top 3 school is to get a demanding, rigorous education.

If you’re not happy with it, switch to public or Maret or field or someplace like that.

Was your child admitted early, like in kindergarten or elementary? Maybe it’s not the right fit.

Bs are one thing by getting multiple scores like 75 or 65 could be a sign your kid shouldn’t be of the school.

I tire The people who get their kids into super progress schools and then complain that they are too rigorous.

Transfer to MCPS. You will love the inflated grading.

So tired of this response as a parent with experience at both a W school and a Big 3 Private upper school. This is completely class and teacher dependant in both environments. The kids taking the hardest classes at the W schools are working hard and very stressed too. Stop spewing misinformation. There are plenty of kids in privates not taking hard classes and less stressed than many public school kids. One can't generalize this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have zero sympathy for rich people who spend tens of thousands a year to send their kids to private schools because they think they’re either too good for public schools or are afraid of brown, black or poor people and because they’re obsessed with getting their kids into colleges that impress their friends and then complain about how hard their kid has it.

They don’t. You don’t. Cry me a friggin River.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Our kids go to GDS and there are many more "Black and Brown" people as you so charmingly mention, particularly African American kids, than there are in the W cluster. So if you think people are attending these schools to avoid diversity, you are misinformed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having gone through this process, I would much rather be a college applicant with a 4.5 GPA from Gonzaga/Landon/Bullis than a 88/89 GPA from St. Albans.

No, top grades are not sufficient for elite college admissions, but they are necessary. Almost no one gets into the Ivies without a near-perfect GPA, I don't care what fancy private school you attended.

The DC privates could solve this issue by simply changing the final transcript they send to colleges. We all know that a STA/NCS/Sidwell "B" is equal to a public school "A", so just alter the transcript to say that.

Just help the kids out when applying to college. Grades are just arbitrary, fake numbers anyways.

Agree with this. Do not expect anyone to be sorry for us private school parents. But when I signed my kids up I had no idea that the colleges would really not account for the rigor of the school. Our Big three is not reacting to the changing landscape, sticking by their guns that "everyone" knows how great/hard our school is but when so see the drop in admissions to top schools from all the Big 3 schools you see this is not true. I feel bad for the kids. My kids are in their last two years if I had known in 9th grade what I know now I would have opted for public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (3 kids) I think what happens in part is that these schools grade to the smartest kid in the room and then curve down accordingly. For instance, there will be one kid (or a handful) in sophomore English who can write an essay worthy of a senior seminar class in a college English class. So there are your As. And the grades go down from that. The kids who are just "very good writers" and turn in "very good for a sophomore in high school" level work get a B.

It's the same in math. My kid is currently in math class beyond calculus. She has a perfect math SAT score. She's good at math but this class is HARD. The average on tests is about a 75. But there is always one kid who manages to get a 98. So there goes any curve or corrections. There is your A. And everyone goes down from there.

I don't know what other schools or districts do in these cases when you have a few extreme outliers. The kids at these top privates are almost all very strong students and were admitted to the private (most of them) because they were at the top at their sending schools. But in each subject there tend to be few kids who is outlandishly gifted. And then they scoop up the 2 As in that class.

That’s what they will encounter in life. Your daughter has a perfect SAT math score but that’s not difficult math. Now she’s in a difficult math class.

If there’s only one kid who can completely and accurately complete the math test then there is only one A. Why would someone who couldn’t finish the test accurately get an A?

There’s a hypocrisy here. A lot of sneers about public schools handing out “A”s for students who get 70% on tests and then complaining when the private school doesn’t do the same.

The extremely smart kids in the real 99th percentile will get all As. And down the line it goes. If there are a few students who accomplish mastering the class that means it can be done and students not doing as well shouldn’t minimize their achievement by whining No Fair!

That's really not how grading works. In college, the scores set the curve, but no college says you have to get the highest score in order to get an A...that simply helps increase the median/mean score and possibly drives a wider standard deviation.

At my kid's Top3 college there is one class where the mean is like a 48 out of 100. If you get a 48, that is an A-. In that one class, everyone was pretty well clustered between a 35 - 60...with the exception of one kid at a 98 (and unfortunately, many kids scoring like between 4 to 10). So, a 98 would be an A+++ if that could be awarded, but a 35 was a B/B-, and basically, a 50 or higher was an A.

That is how curved grading works. If the schools folks are complaining about graded this way...doubt it would be a problem.

I’m a teacher. If only one student in a class full of bright, engaged learners who are devoting multiple hours per week to my course work is earning an A, that is my issue. Either I’m not doing a good job preparing lessons and content or the test doesn’t reflect the course level/material.

In the example above the teacher purposely creates "impossible" tests...but, yes there is usually 1 kid (out of 250 across the sections) that is just way above everyone else. This is how you figure out the true genius-like kid vs. all the other kids (again, this HYP) who are just really smart.

Not sure if that is your approach as a teacher, but it is not entirely unusual.

It is not the job of a single teacher (or each teacher) to identify the 1 kid that is truly exceptional above all others by never giving A's to others. The way to do that is in a letter of recommendation. You do not dismiss the achievements of everyone else. But this is definitely how many Sidwell teachers like to operate, like it's a badge of honor to be the hardest class at the school. Great - yet nobody tells colleges this. (and it's even worse when it's a class that has many sections and other teachers don't have the same grading rubric)

The teachers aren’t identifying anyone, the grades are. If only 2 students are able to complete an exam accurately that makes them standouts. The other students didn’t achieve anything so what is there to dismiss?

If the teacher is teaching content that’s inappropriate for their grade I can understand the problem. But if you enroll in a top school known for its tough academics that’s a different story.

If only two students are succeeding, and the class as a whole is putting in appropriate effort, the content is inappropriate for the grade or the teacher is ineffective.

Probably but that’s not the same claim that the others students achievements are dismissed. They didn’t achieve anything.

What about when 50% of the class accurately completes the exam but 50% can only get half of it right?

Again, that’s my issue to address as a teacher if they are accurately leveled in the course. If I missed half the class I need to change tactics

The parent needs to find out by talking to the teacher. Parents complain that there’s only 1 student that is doing well. If she talks to the teacher she might find out her information is not accurate and facts are that there are a few who can’t keep up but the majority are doing fine. I wouldn’t trust what a parent whose child is struggling says.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having gone through this process, I would much rather be a college applicant with a 4.5 GPA from Gonzaga/Landon/Bullis than a 88/89 GPA from St. Albans.

No, top grades are not sufficient for elite college admissions, but they are necessary. Almost no one gets into the Ivies without a near-perfect GPA, I don't care what fancy private school you attended.

The DC privates could solve this issue by simply changing the final transcript they send to colleges. We all know that a STA/NCS/Sidwell "B" is equal to a public school "A", so just alter the transcript to say that.

Just help the kids out when applying to college. Grades are just arbitrary, fake numbers anyways.

No, top grades are not necessary. According to SCOIR, a recent Sidwell graduate was admitted to Harvard with a 3.1 cumulative GPA. Who your parents are, and how much money and influence they have, matters more than grades.

[Anonymous]

I’m a HS teacher and I don’t try to limit As.
Class quality varies from year to year obviously but this year I have a strong class and 30% of them will most likely end the semester with an A. Another 40% will have a B. Last year, it was less.
I don’t like to set impossible standards either.
I feel there is a fine line between motivating and energizing the kids to work hard and having kids give up in frustration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having gone through this process, I would much rather be a college applicant with a 4.5 GPA from Gonzaga/Landon/Bullis than a 88/89 GPA from St. Albans.

No, top grades are not sufficient for elite college admissions, but they are necessary. Almost no one gets into the Ivies without a near-perfect GPA, I don't care what fancy private school you attended.

The DC privates could solve this issue by simply changing the final transcript they send to colleges. We all know that a STA/NCS/Sidwell "B" is equal to a public school "A", so just alter the transcript to say that.

Just help the kids out when applying to college. Grades are just arbitrary, fake numbers anyways.

No, top grades are not necessary. According to SCOIR, a recent Sidwell graduate was admitted to Harvard with a 3.1 cumulative GPA. Who your parents are, and how much money and influence they have, matters more than grades.

Or what diversity you bring and sport you play well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a HS teacher and I don’t try to limit As.
Class quality varies from year to year obviously but this year I have a strong class and 30% of them will most likely end the semester with an A. Another 40% will have a B. Last year, it was less.
I don’t like to set impossible standards either.
I feel there is a fine line between motivating and energizing the kids to work hard and having kids give up in frustration.

For the students who don’t do well, do you get calls from the parents blaming you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a HS teacher and I don’t try to limit As.
Class quality varies from year to year obviously but this year I have a strong class and 30% of them will most likely end the semester with an A. Another 40% will have a B. Last year, it was less.
I don’t like to set impossible standards either.
I feel there is a fine line between motivating and energizing the kids to work hard and having kids give up in frustration.

For the students who don’t do well, do you get calls from the parents blaming you?

Yes, sometimes I get calls and emails from parents. Sometimes they go directly to the head of the upper school. It is very stressful. I hate dealing with parents because it stresses me out. Never know when a parent will turn crazy on you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a HS teacher and I don’t try to limit As.
Class quality varies from year to year obviously but this year I have a strong class and 30% of them will most likely end the semester with an A. Another 40% will have a B. Last year, it was less.
I don’t like to set impossible standards either.
I feel there is a fine line between motivating and energizing the kids to work hard and having kids give up in frustration.

For the students who don’t do well, do you get calls from the parents blaming you?

Yes, sometimes I get calls and emails from parents. Sometimes they go directly to the head of the upper school. It is very stressful. I hate dealing with parents because it stresses me out. Never know when a parent will turn crazy on you

You sound like a conscientious teacher. Sometimes parents go crazy because the teacher is out of control or verbally abusive. Dealing with one of these right now. Maybe 20+ parents have complained. School is acting like an ostrich. What do you suggest for parents in situations like that?

What does your school do when it gets calls and emails from parents?