Changes to grading for all MCPS high school students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
From our school listserve:

IMPORTANT ALERT: High School Grading & Reporting Changes!!
6-11-25

High School PTAs, Delegates, Cluster Coordinators, Parent and Student Organizations:

With little to no public or school-based discussion, no data transparency, and no clear communication, it looks like MCPS plans to change grading and reporting practices for 6th-12th graders, beginning fall 2025.

Email Superintendent Taylor and the BOE NOW!!

Likely revisions for the 2025-2026 SY for ALL High Schoolers:

In addition to quarterly graded district assessments, MCPS will introduce semester final exams or final projects (summative assessments) that will count 10% of a student’s MP2 and MP4 grades. District assessments, worth 10%, will continue to be given in MP1 and MP3.

Elimination of x9.5% rounds up to the next higher grade for marking period grades.

Clearer guidance on the 50% rule (students who turn in no work receive a zero; students who submit the work in accordance with clear minimum criteria can receive no less than 50%)

A new semester grade formula that will take the numerical percentage of each marking period and divide it by two to come up with a semester percentage that will be translated into a letter grade for ALL 6-12 graders next year. This will be particularly harmful to rising juniors and seniors whose grades will be negatively impacted during the two most important years of their secondary careers.
Graduation rates will drop.
Juniors will see grades drop during the year they take their most challenging courses–the year colleges weigh most heavily
Colleges will see those grade drops and will largely question the validity of previous years’ grades, regardless of any transcript notation from MCPS.
There will be negative impacts on scholarships, athletic recruiting, and college admissions.
Vulnerable populations such as our Special Education, FARMS, and EML students will be negatively impacted.

Bottom Line

We believe grading and reporting changes 1, 2, and 3 should be implemented for all middle school and high school students next year. However, we believe it is HARMFUL and negligent to subject rising 10th - 12th graders to semester grade formula changes next year that will cause transcript inconsistencies. We believe the semester grade formula change should be PHASED in, beginning with rising 6th - 9th graders next year. This would provide a lower stakes environment for students to regain their footing and adjust to the new formula.

For those who contend that it’s unfair for a 9th grader and an 11th grader in the same course to receive different semester grades if their marking period grades are the same, we offer you this: That 9th grader and 11th grader aren’t in the same graduating cohort. They aren’t competing with each other for apprenticeships, internships, college admissions, or scholarships. Phasing in the new semester grade formula will provide the 9th grader with the same semester grade formula throughout their four years of high school. Phasing it in will provide the 11th grader with a transcript that uses a consistent formula as well. No one is negatively impacted with a phased in approach. However, there are thousands of students who will be negatively impacted if the semester grade formula is not phased in.

MCPS and the Board of Education have largely ignored the negative impact the semester grade calculation change will have on graduation rates, EMLs, students seeking internships, and a significant number of college and career bound students. Many A's and B's will become B's and C's, while many C's and D's will become D's and E's.

If you have children who have already graduated, think of how this semester grade formula change would have impacted them if implemented in their junior or senior year. If you have a rising 10th - 11th grader, consider the impact this change will have on their future. If you have younger children, think of how such a drastic change midway through your own high school career would have impacted you. Now is the time to speak up!

✅ Email Superintendent Taylor and the BOE TODAY!!
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

I’m glad it’s changing. Private school students are held to this standard and higher - quit advocating racing to the bottom just so your kid can can have a 4.99 GPA. Colleges are onto the grade inflation in MCPS. I have to friends in higher education who have mentioned how MCPS kids have high GPAs but can’t write for shi*t and have poor critical thinking skills.

. I’m sure they say kid’s genera can’t write. They aren’t doing enough research to determine what county a student is from .

I wouldn’t be so sure about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Then the alternative is exempt the student from the missed work if it’s an excused absence. Otherwise, the work and test will need to be made up. I’m not trying to be a prick. I empathize that teachers need more time and advocate for it to be provided. But life happens. Students are going to get sick, or need to leave for an appointment, and they can’t delegate their work to someone else temporarily. So we either need a defined process for them to make it up or we exempt them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

Why is the library closed for classes? I could see the class being in a part of the library, but what does one clsss shut the library down for everyone’s use?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
From our school listserve:

IMPORTANT ALERT: High School Grading & Reporting Changes!!
6-11-25

High School PTAs, Delegates, Cluster Coordinators, Parent and Student Organizations:

With little to no public or school-based discussion, no data transparency, and no clear communication, it looks like MCPS plans to change grading and reporting practices for 6th-12th graders, beginning fall 2025.

Email Superintendent Taylor and the BOE NOW!!

Likely revisions for the 2025-2026 SY for ALL High Schoolers:

In addition to quarterly graded district assessments, MCPS will introduce semester final exams or final projects (summative assessments) that will count 10% of a student’s MP2 and MP4 grades. District assessments, worth 10%, will continue to be given in MP1 and MP3.

Elimination of x9.5% rounds up to the next higher grade for marking period grades.

Clearer guidance on the 50% rule (students who turn in no work receive a zero; students who submit the work in accordance with clear minimum criteria can receive no less than 50%)

A new semester grade formula that will take the numerical percentage of each marking period and divide it by two to come up with a semester percentage that will be translated into a letter grade for ALL 6-12 graders next year. This will be particularly harmful to rising juniors and seniors whose grades will be negatively impacted during the two most important years of their secondary careers.
Graduation rates will drop.
Juniors will see grades drop during the year they take their most challenging courses–the year colleges weigh most heavily
Colleges will see those grade drops and will largely question the validity of previous years’ grades, regardless of any transcript notation from MCPS.
There will be negative impacts on scholarships, athletic recruiting, and college admissions.
Vulnerable populations such as our Special Education, FARMS, and EML students will be negatively impacted.

Bottom Line

We believe grading and reporting changes 1, 2, and 3 should be implemented for all middle school and high school students next year. However, we believe it is HARMFUL and negligent to subject rising 10th - 12th graders to semester grade formula changes next year that will cause transcript inconsistencies. We believe the semester grade formula change should be PHASED in, beginning with rising 6th - 9th graders next year. This would provide a lower stakes environment for students to regain their footing and adjust to the new formula.

For those who contend that it’s unfair for a 9th grader and an 11th grader in the same course to receive different semester grades if their marking period grades are the same, we offer you this: That 9th grader and 11th grader aren’t in the same graduating cohort. They aren’t competing with each other for apprenticeships, internships, college admissions, or scholarships. Phasing in the new semester grade formula will provide the 9th grader with the same semester grade formula throughout their four years of high school. Phasing it in will provide the 11th grader with a transcript that uses a consistent formula as well. No one is negatively impacted with a phased in approach. However, there are thousands of students who will be negatively impacted if the semester grade formula is not phased in.

MCPS and the Board of Education have largely ignored the negative impact the semester grade calculation change will have on graduation rates, EMLs, students seeking internships, and a significant number of college and career bound students. Many A's and B's will become B's and C's, while many C's and D's will become D's and E's.

If you have children who have already graduated, think of how this semester grade formula change would have impacted them if implemented in their junior or senior year. If you have a rising 10th - 11th grader, consider the impact this change will have on their future. If you have younger children, think of how such a drastic change midway through your own high school career would have impacted you. Now is the time to speak up!

✅ Email Superintendent Taylor and the BOE TODAY!!
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

I’m glad it’s changing. Private school students are held to this standard and higher - quit advocating racing to the bottom just so your kid can can have a 4.99 GPA. Colleges are onto the grade inflation in MCPS. I have to friends in higher education who have mentioned how MCPS kids have high GPAs but can’t write for shi*t and have poor critical thinking skills.

. I’m sure they say kid’s genera can’t write. They aren’t doing enough research to determine what county a student is from .

I wouldn’t be so sure about that.

I know plenty of folks in HigherEd, across a range of subjects, states and levels. None of them are doing in-depth evaluation of what county students are from. They may ask a few specific students where they went to HS or what county. They talk in generalities about kids not having good writing skills or critical thinking, or whatever else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

… says the person who has absolutely no clue what teaching is like. I mean… no clue at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

Why is the library closed for classes? I could see the class being in a part of the library, but what does one clsss shut the library down for everyone’s use?

Our library is frequently booked by classes and the librarian is busy working with those students.

She can’t properly monitor others while she is instructing, so the library is shut down.

The main problem is that students cannot be left unsupervised or unattended. All of the posters saying “just send them to X” don’t seem to realize that school staff is ALWAYS busy and can’t simply drop their obligations to supervise a student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

Why is the library closed for classes? I could see the class being in a part of the library, but what does one clsss shut the library down for everyone’s use?

Our library is frequently booked by classes and the librarian is busy working with those students.

She can’t properly monitor others while she is instructing, so the library is shut down.

The main problem is that students cannot be left unsupervised or unattended. All of the posters saying “just send them to X” don’t seem to realize that school staff is ALWAYS busy and can’t simply drop their obligations to supervise a student.

It must be ES as in HS they don't go to the library.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

Why is the library closed for classes? I could see the class being in a part of the library, but what does one clsss shut the library down for everyone’s use?

Our library is frequently booked by classes and the librarian is busy working with those students.

She can’t properly monitor others while she is instructing, so the library is shut down.

The main problem is that students cannot be left unsupervised or unattended. All of the posters saying “just send them to X” don’t seem to realize that school staff is ALWAYS busy and can’t simply drop their obligations to supervise a student.

It must be ES as in HS they don't go to the library.

Is there not a media center aide/assistant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

You’re still asking someone who is not responsible for that child to take them on while they have other duties.

A high schooler can probably sit in another classroom for 20 minutes without create a disruption, but middle school and under see the change in venue as an opportunity to test limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

Why is the library closed for classes? I could see the class being in a part of the library, but what does one clsss shut the library down for everyone’s use?

Our library is frequently booked by classes and the librarian is busy working with those students.

She can’t properly monitor others while she is instructing, so the library is shut down.

The main problem is that students cannot be left unsupervised or unattended. All of the posters saying “just send them to X” don’t seem to realize that school staff is ALWAYS busy and can’t simply drop their obligations to supervise a student.

It must be ES as in HS they don't go to the library.

When I taught HS, my classes went to the library to borrow books for their projects. My two youngest had some classes at Blair and Northwood in the library while the librarian taught research skills specific to English, SS, and Science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers. McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely. Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something. I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it. McPS doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve. I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.

The current policy also requires stuff to be turned back promptly but there’s zero enforcement of it. What are the principals going to do — fire teachers? They can’t even fire the truly terrible teachers because there’s such a shortage.

This! Teachers not returning graded work until the next quarter if at all. Or not returning assessment to go over answers because "not everyone has taken the test yet". Make up another damn quiz or test for that student instead! And have that one or handful of students sit in another room while going over the graded quiz so the other 29 students can see how they performed on the assessment and learn from it.

Who supervises that child?

The student can go to the school library or student can go to the classroom of a teacher in same subject or nearby classroom who doesn't have a class that period. Why should majority of the class have to wait for that one student or few students who havent taken the assessment?

So… your solution is to take time away from teachers. That teacher next door only gets about 45 minutes A DAY to themselves to plan, grade, answer emails, go to the bathroom, update reports, make copies, etc. Now they have to lose that time so they can proctor a test? Imagine how angry the parents will be when it takes even longer to get a response from a teacher.

And who in the library will proctor the test? The librarian, who is working with a class?

No, the teacher or librarian doesn't proctor the test to the student(s) who missed it. The student is excused by their regular teacher to go to library or student sits in a nearby classroom while their class is going over test results. The student who misses a test makes it up before school, during lunch or after school with and in classroom of regular teacher.

Either way — you expect somebody to give up the only work time they have all day simply to supervise one student. This isn’t as easy or practical as you would like to believe.

Time is valuable to a teacher. We simply don’t get enough of it. If you asked if I want higher pay or more time, I’m going to say time. I’d give up a $10K raise to have an extra half hour of work time a day.

Jesssu, they are not giving up any time! And these are the kind of people "teaching" our young people?? Wow.

Please come in and substitute. You will see. It’s not feasible to do this. Plus the library is often closed for classes. No need for snark.

Why is the library closed for classes? I could see the class being in a part of the library, but what does one clsss shut the library down for everyone’s use?

Our library is frequently booked by classes and the librarian is busy working with those students.

She can’t properly monitor others while she is instructing, so the library is shut down.

The main problem is that students cannot be left unsupervised or unattended. All of the posters saying “just send them to X” don’t seem to realize that school staff is ALWAYS busy and can’t simply drop their obligations to supervise a student.

It must be ES as in HS they don't go to the library.

Is there not a media center aide/assistant?

All are PT only due to budget cuts so even schools that have them only have that person half the day. Plus, they have work they need to do and can’t just supervise a random student.