Do you think GPAs have gone down with new grading policies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us, the problem has been a new philosophy in middle school instruction between 2022 and 2025. There is a new huge leap from 6th to 7th now, especially in terms of writing. Because of the big focus on math and Reid's goal to have everyone in Algebra in 8th, the writing curriculum stinks. But the high school teachers in our pyramid have been complaining to the middle school teachers that kids are showing up in honors classes not knowing how to write essays. So now the middle school teachers are including 7th grade tests with 12 point essay questions but not doing any writing practice or instruction to get the kids there. And my child had pretty much zero instruction on writing a test essay in elementary school.

So tutoring it is. I agree that writing needs to improve, but the teachers have to actually teach it.

This is brand new this year - my older child did not experience this - and it's been really frustrating and made for a hard transition to middle school. Lots of Cs and failed tests. Perfect scores on the multiple choice sections and zeros for essay answers that count for half of a test grade. Frustrating, but at least middle school grades don't go on a transcript.

There is definitely writing practice and instruction happening at our middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us, the problem has been a new philosophy in middle school instruction between 2022 and 2025. There is a new huge leap from 6th to 7th now, especially in terms of writing. Because of the big focus on math and Reid's goal to have everyone in Algebra in 8th, the writing curriculum stinks. But the high school teachers in our pyramid have been complaining to the middle school teachers that kids are showing up in honors classes not knowing how to write essays. So now the middle school teachers are including 7th grade tests with 12 point essay questions but not doing any writing practice or instruction to get the kids there. And my child had pretty much zero instruction on writing a test essay in elementary school.

So tutoring it is. I agree that writing needs to improve, but the teachers have to actually teach it.

This is brand new this year - my older child did not experience this - and it's been really frustrating and made for a hard transition to middle school. Lots of Cs and failed tests. Perfect scores on the multiple choice sections and zeros for essay answers that count for half of a test grade. Frustrating, but at least middle school grades don't go on a transcript.

Your kids must not go to the same middle school where mine have all gone, for our kids have had excellent writing instruction in both 7th grade ELA and US History. They've definitely been taught how to respond to a prompt and have been provided scaffolded response practice as they prepare for full essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know about overall GPA. I think the retake policy is OK. (Wish you could get higher than 90 percent.). But the retakes do encourage my kid to learn the material. If he gets a D, he will realize he didn’t know the material so well, study and turn around and get a B. If the goal is learning - then retakes help.

I agree that the retakes are great and provides an opportunity for the kids to actually learn the material. However, I actually really like that the retake limited the high score to 90%. I think that's the fair way to do it.

[Anonymous]

I really dislike the 70/30 policy. Some teachers only give 2 tests the entire quarter worth 100 points each, whereas they give a ton of homework and in class formative work that is only 1-5 points each.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the emphasis on assessments and retakes only to 90, do you think grades are as high as they have been in the past? Wondering especially for those in honors and AP classes. I know we hear about grade inflation a lot, but this seems like a high bar to meet. Would love to hear from any teachers as well, who see a broader cross section of grades.

yes and overall the quality of education in FCPS has gone way down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really dislike the 70/30 policy. Some teachers only give 2 tests the entire quarter worth 100 points each, whereas they give a ton of homework and in class formative work that is only 1-5 points each.

Get ready for rolling gradebook, it’s about to get way worse. Btw no research supports rolling gradebook but that isn’t stopping Fairfax county from moving ahead with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously? We were never taught how to take notes and we all mayo get advanced degrees. I never knew about Cornell notes, etc until my son was required to use certain methods in HS. I think he had once class where they went over the particular method and then he went on YouTube to get extra practice. His teachers would spot check their written notes for a grade.

Outlining was taught as a structure. Outlining was required and applied to textbook chapters. Outlines were required before essays. This structure was a precursor for taking notes. Also, the teacher would hand-write notes on the boards and students would copy the notes into composition books. This, too, taught how to begin writing notes to study for a test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really dislike the 70/30 policy. Some teachers only give 2 tests the entire quarter worth 100 points each, whereas they give a ton of homework and in class formative work that is only 1-5 points each.

How is it fair to give more than 30% of the student’s grade to a pile of work that they may or may not have done themselves/independently/without external resources? I have to assume that anything that leaves my room is done by photomath or ChatGPT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really dislike the 70/30 policy. Some teachers only give 2 tests the entire quarter worth 100 points each, whereas they give a ton of homework and in class formative work that is only 1-5 points each.

How is it fair to give more than 30% of the student’s grade to a pile of work that they may or may not have done themselves/independently/without external resources? I have to assume that anything that leaves my room is done by photomath or ChatGPT.

How fair is it when kids get lazy teachers throwing up slides and calling that teaching. Do you know how many kids in this county have tutors to teach the material that is clearly not being taught in classes. I have started to assume many FCPS teachers no longer really care about kids or their learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really dislike the 70/30 policy. Some teachers only give 2 tests the entire quarter worth 100 points each, whereas they give a ton of homework and in class formative work that is only 1-5 points each.

How is it fair to give more than 30% of the student’s grade to a pile of work that they may or may not have done themselves/independently/without external resources? I have to assume that anything that leaves my room is done by photomath or ChatGPT.

How fair is it when kids get lazy teachers throwing up slides and calling that teaching. Do you know how many kids in this county have tutors to teach the material that is clearly not being taught in classes. I have started to assume many FCPS teachers no longer really care about kids or their learning.

+1. Many teachers are no longer teaching. It’s pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Grade inflation during and after COVID was out of control. Kids were getting credit for the bare minimum and were given so much latitude it was crazy. Grades needed to go down to reflect what kids are actually learning and how they are performing. That means that kids who were A students might actually be revealed to be B students, even with support and effort. And that is fine. I would rather grades reflect what kids are learning and mastering then inflated to give everyone extra chances to feel good about themselves. It is OK to not earn an A in a class. You will still go to college and you will still get a good job after college.

My kids Teachers are teaching. He doesn't need a tutor in MS. He sure seems to be learning. His test scores, iREady, MAP, SOL scores are all high, not that I think those are the best indicators of learning anything but they are what we have to compare with others. Is it because he is really smart and can learn the material however the teachers are presenting it? Maybe. Is it because his teachers are doing a good job of teaching? Probably. His friends seem to be learning. I have not heard complaints about the teachers in our friend group or around our neighborhood. A good number of the kids have B's and I don't hear anyone complaining about those Bs.

Maybe some kids have tutors because they struggle with the material, that is not unheard of. Some kids are going to need to work harder and need support to get Bs and As, that is the nature of intelligence and learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really dislike the 70/30 policy. Some teachers only give 2 tests the entire quarter worth 100 points each, whereas they give a ton of homework and in class formative work that is only 1-5 points each.

How is it fair to give more than 30% of the student’s grade to a pile of work that they may or may not have done themselves/independently/without external resources? I have to assume that anything that leaves my room is done by photomath or ChatGPT.

How fair is it when kids get lazy teachers throwing up slides and calling that teaching. Do you know how many kids in this county have tutors to teach the material that is clearly not being taught in classes. I have started to assume many FCPS teachers no longer really care about kids or their learning.

+1. Many teachers are no longer teaching. It’s pathetic.

And those of us who are still teaching are burning out at record rates. The expectations placed on teachers are unsustainable and so we are crashing. And quitting.

[Anonymous]

I would invite any parent to come into my high school science class(not AP). Observe who pays attention when I am teaching, who asks questions to me or other students when they don't understand something. Who does the practice problems by themselves and doesn't copy. Who shows up to class and I think you can identify the A,B,C,D and F students. No offense but if you child does not have an A in the current system they are not putting forth the effort needed. You do not have to be smart to get an A in non AP classes even with the 70/30 or retakes being 90.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would invite any parent to come into my high school science class(not AP). Observe who pays attention when I am teaching, who asks questions to me or other students when they don't understand something. Who does the practice problems by themselves and doesn't copy. Who shows up to class and I think you can identify the A,B,C,D and F students. No offense but if you child does not have an A in the current system they are not putting forth the effort needed. You do not have to be smart to get an A in non AP classes even with the 70/30 or retakes being 90.

This is true for your class not the entire county so stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would invite any parent to come into my high school science class(not AP). Observe who pays attention when I am teaching, who asks questions to me or other students when they don't understand something. Who does the practice problems by themselves and doesn't copy. Who shows up to class and I think you can identify the A,B,C,D and F students. No offense but if you child does not have an A in the current system they are not putting forth the effort needed. You do not have to be smart to get an A in non AP classes even with the 70/30 or retakes being 90.

This is true for your class not the entire county so stop.

I promise it is true more often than not. There is probably 2 teachers at our entire school that I would say are tougher graders and maybe not the best teachers, so the gpa suffers a bit. But most of the teachers who are average are easy graders