Any hope Youngkin will bring back 0s?

[Anonymous]

Also when I went to high school there were two kids taking classes about Calculus in our high school and my mother's class zero. In fact no one even took Calulus in high school. Now a good portion of kids take it even sophomore and definitely Junior year. This idea that the kids of old had it harder in school is BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people just want to take away all decision making from locally elected bodies of government?

If the school board has said that a kid not turning in work still starts with a 50%, then yeah, that needs to go away. Attendance does not equal a grade. Students need to be turning in work on time. Students not turning in work should earn a 0 on the assignment. Students turning in work late should lose points for turning in the assignment late. I promise you that these types of policies are not doing students any good. It is inflating grades and moving kids ahead when they are not ready. They are not teaching kids habits that will help them in life.

When they do not turn in an assignment, not only should students earn a 0, they should get the additional assignment of having to use algebra to calculate their new overall class grade with that newly earned 0. If they don't turn in their grade calculation, that's another 0.

and then the kid realizes that even though it's only October, there's basically nothing they can do to pass the class. and then what? they just sit there. and distract others. and don't learn anything. they have no motivation to. that's why I have very mixed feelings on the no zero policy.

That is where having year long classes is stupid. Break it up into semesters (like many other states do). If a I'd fails geometry A first semester they retake it 2nd quarter and they have to do geometry B over summer.
Break up history courses into A and B. If a kid fails world history A but passed world history B, they only need to do world history A over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is ridiculous. I think it is ridiculous that parents allow their kids to get away with this crap.

Agree that the parents play a role. I have a number of friends who accept their kids grades, knowing that htey are getting the benefit of this, knowing their kids can submit late assignments for full credit, knowing their kids can do re-takes to increase grades if the initial grade is low enough.

Have some standards for your children.

At our MS you can retake any test. You can retake a 98% if you want. Guess who's kid re-takes a majority of her tests? Mine. I have standards and want my kid to get the best grade possible. Don't think taking retakes says otherwise. She's never score less than an 89% on any original test but why settle for a B+ or A- when you can get an A.

You are going to hurt your child with that attitude. A's are great but studying and getting a B+ or an A- on a test is not a bad thing. Those are good grades. Your kid is being taught that they are only doing well if they score an A and that is going to hurt her when she gets to a place where retakes are not allowed. She is going to freak out about having a B+ or an A- for no good reason.

Our standard is that DS makes his best effort. Did he do his homework and study? Then he earned the grade that he earned and we can accept that. If he needs a tutor because he is not fully understanding the concepts, then fine. But making an kid with an A- retake a test is a bit much. I mean, you are going to do your thing but there can be some negative consequences to that type of extra pressure on a kid who is doing well in school.

To me a retake is like extra credit. Why not do it if it's available? If retakes are not allowed, then no retakes. You sit with the grade you originally got. Same for extra credit. If it's not offered then your score is your score. It's no different. She knows we value the effort over the grade. But she also knows when given an opportunity to try to improve a grade, take it! One time she scored an 87 and took a retest because she just new she could get a 90 at least (A-). She scored an 89 on the retest. So there was no improvement in grade (87 and 89 are both B+). Oh well! She tried. She wasn't phased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people just want to take away all decision making from locally elected bodies of government?

If the school board has said that a kid not turning in work still starts with a 50%, then yeah, that needs to go away. Attendance does not equal a grade. Students need to be turning in work on time. Students not turning in work should earn a 0 on the assignment. Students turning in work late should lose points for turning in the assignment late. I promise you that these types of policies are not doing students any good. It is inflating grades and moving kids ahead when they are not ready. They are not teaching kids habits that will help them in life.

When they do not turn in an assignment, not only should students earn a 0, they should get the additional assignment of having to use algebra to calculate their new overall class grade with that newly earned 0. If they don't turn in their grade calculation, that's another 0.

Yep, it's way better now. Now the student can not try and still pass.
and then the kid realizes that even though it's only October, there's basically nothing they can do to pass the class. and then what? they just sit there. and distract others. and don't learn anything. they have no motivation to. that's why I have very mixed feelings on the no zero policy.

Yup. The 50% policy has actually created more engagement than 0s ever did. Kids no longer have an excuse to check out. In college they can drop the course, in high school they have to sit there until June even when it's obvious they have 0 chance of passing. With the 50% rule, there is never an excuse to totally stop trying--passing is always a possibility with some effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people just want to take away all decision making from locally elected bodies of government?

If the school board has said that a kid not turning in work still starts with a 50%, then yeah, that needs to go away. Attendance does not equal a grade. Students need to be turning in work on time. Students not turning in work should earn a 0 on the assignment. Students turning in work late should lose points for turning in the assignment late. I promise you that these types of policies are not doing students any good. It is inflating grades and moving kids ahead when they are not ready. They are not teaching kids habits that will help them in life.

When they do not turn in an assignment, not only should students earn a 0, they should get the additional assignment of having to use algebra to calculate their new overall class grade with that newly earned 0. If they don't turn in their grade calculation, that's another 0.

and then the kid realizes that even though it's only October, there's basically nothing they can do to pass the class. and then what? they just sit there. and distract others. and don't learn anything. they have no motivation to. that's why I have very mixed feelings on the no zero policy.

Yup. The 50% policy has actually created more engagement than 0s ever did. Kids no longer have an excuse to check out. In college they can drop the course, in high school they have to sit there until June even when it's obvious they have 0 chance of passing. With the 50% rule, there is never an excuse to totally stop trying--passing is always a possibility with some effort.

My engagement is way down. Now the kid sits there and does non-work and still gets a D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a 50 makes sense. Why are elementary grades only 1-4 (why did they get rid of the five) and yet grades in high should range from 0-100? It never made sense. 50-100 is a reasonable range and it’s even. 50 is F. 60 is D. 70 is D. 80 is B. 90 is A. Except I think actually FCPS starts their D to A at the 4 so there is actually a 14 point spread from F to D.

A 50% makes sense for someone who doesn't turn in any work? My kid doesn't turn in homework and gets a 50%? No, my kid turned in nothing, that is a 0% because they did 0 work. 0-59% is an F. It is a wider grade range but it allows for people to receive what they actually earn. Turn in nothing and earn nothing.

But that makes no sense. Its still failing. If you HAVE to have a zero than the top score should be a 50. Turning it in but not doing it correctly isn't worth 55 points. And tests are done in school so you have to do them. Also in high school if you aren't keeping up with the work they ask you to drop the class, so Grandma I'm not sure why you are so hung up on the turning in of assignments. When you were growing up you likely had easier assignments (my son's assignments are harder than what I had in high school and we both took honors and AP courses) and likely your teacher allowed you to turn an assignment or two in late or gasp didn't even grade some assignments. The grading metric never made sense with the 0-100 range. You'd have to fill it with different stepping stones at 10 increments for it to make sense. As it is an A is a 94. That's pretty high. When I went to school it used to be a 90. Do you complain about this change too?

THIS! It makes me so mad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is ridiculous. I think it is ridiculous that parents allow their kids to get away with this crap.

Agree that the parents play a role. I have a number of friends who accept their kids grades, knowing that htey are getting the benefit of this, knowing their kids can submit late assignments for full credit, knowing their kids can do re-takes to increase grades if the initial grade is low enough.

Have some standards for your children.

At our MS you can retake any test. You can retake a 98% if you want. Guess who's kid re-takes a majority of her tests? Mine. I have standards and want my kid to get the best grade possible. Don't think taking retakes says otherwise. She's never score less than an 89% on any original test but why settle for a B+ or A- when you can get an A.

You are going to hurt your child with that attitude. A's are great but studying and getting a B+ or an A- on a test is not a bad thing. Those are good grades. Your kid is being taught that they are only doing well if they score an A and that is going to hurt her when she gets to a place where retakes are not allowed. She is going to freak out about having a B+ or an A- for no good reason.

Our standard is that DS makes his best effort. Did he do his homework and study? Then he earned the grade that he earned and we can accept that. If he needs a tutor because he is not fully understanding the concepts, then fine. But making an kid with an A- retake a test is a bit much. I mean, you are going to do your thing but there can be some negative consequences to that type of extra pressure on a kid who is doing well in school.

Unfortunately, these games need to be played to stand a chance at the more competitive colleges. I agree that aiming for perfectionism with retakes isn't innately helping children be better learners, but it's the kind of thing that you have to do because everyone else is doing it. It's another way that grades are inflated and the floor is higher as a result. And that 0.33-0.5 GPA difference is meaningful enough.

This.

People like you guys suck. Seriously. Good luck with those retakes in your Very Competitive College. (And fwiw, my kid gets A's w/o the retakes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a 50 makes sense. Why are elementary grades only 1-4 (why did they get rid of the five) and yet grades in high should range from 0-100? It never made sense. 50-100 is a reasonable range and it’s even. 50 is F. 60 is D. 70 is D. 80 is B. 90 is A. Except I think actually FCPS starts their D to A at the 4 so there is actually a 14 point spread from F to D.

A 50% makes sense for someone who doesn't turn in any work? My kid doesn't turn in homework and gets a 50%? No, my kid turned in nothing, that is a 0% because they did 0 work. 0-59% is an F. It is a wider grade range but it allows for people to receive what they actually earn. Turn in nothing and earn nothing.

But that makes no sense. Its still failing. If you HAVE to have a zero than the top score should be a 50. Turning it in but not doing it correctly isn't worth 55 points. And tests are done in school so you have to do them. Also in high school if you aren't keeping up with the work they ask you to drop the class, so Grandma I'm not sure why you are so hung up on the turning in of assignments. When you were growing up you likely had easier assignments (my son's assignments are harder than what I had in high school and we both took honors and AP courses) and likely your teacher allowed you to turn an assignment or two in late or gasp didn't even grade some assignments. The grading metric never made sense with the 0-100 range. You'd have to fill it with different stepping stones at 10 increments for it to make sense. As it is an A is a 94. That's pretty high. When I went to school it used to be a 90. Do you complain about this change too?

THIS! It makes me so mad.

I had a high school like that. Below an 87 was a C. A 94-97 was an A-minus, 98-100 was an A, and above 100 was an A+ (which could only happen if a teacher gave extra credit and most didn't). This was a private school in SC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is ridiculous. I think it is ridiculous that parents allow their kids to get away with this crap.

Agree that the parents play a role. I have a number of friends who accept their kids grades, knowing that htey are getting the benefit of this, knowing their kids can submit late assignments for full credit, knowing their kids can do re-takes to increase grades if the initial grade is low enough.

Have some standards for your children.

At our MS you can retake any test. You can retake a 98% if you want. Guess who's kid re-takes a majority of her tests? Mine. I have standards and want my kid to get the best grade possible. Don't think taking retakes says otherwise. She's never score less than an 89% on any original test but why settle for a B+ or A- when you can get an A.

You are going to hurt your child with that attitude. A's are great but studying and getting a B+ or an A- on a test is not a bad thing. Those are good grades. Your kid is being taught that they are only doing well if they score an A and that is going to hurt her when she gets to a place where retakes are not allowed. She is going to freak out about having a B+ or an A- for no good reason.

Our standard is that DS makes his best effort. Did he do his homework and study? Then he earned the grade that he earned and we can accept that. If he needs a tutor because he is not fully understanding the concepts, then fine. But making an kid with an A- retake a test is a bit much. I mean, you are going to do your thing but there can be some negative consequences to that type of extra pressure on a kid who is doing well in school.

Unfortunately, these games need to be played to stand a chance at the more competitive colleges. I agree that aiming for perfectionism with retakes isn't innately helping children be better learners, but it's the kind of thing that you have to do because everyone else is doing it. It's another way that grades are inflated and the floor is higher as a result. And that 0.33-0.5 GPA difference is meaningful enough.

This.

People like you guys suck. Seriously. Good luck with those retakes in your Very Competitive College. (And fwiw, my kid gets A's w/o the retakes).

Good for them. No one cares. My oldest is doing just fine at UPenn, like her father. My youngest will be fine too. I am not worried about my kids. I don't need to be when you seem to be so concerned.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps simply electing Republican SB candidates instead of the usual clown car of Democrats would solve this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is ridiculous. I think it is ridiculous that parents allow their kids to get away with this crap.

Agree that the parents play a role. I have a number of friends who accept their kids grades, knowing that htey are getting the benefit of this, knowing their kids can submit late assignments for full credit, knowing their kids can do re-takes to increase grades if the initial grade is low enough.

Have some standards for your children.

The goal of school is to learn the material. Why does it matter if they do retakes — they demonstrate they have learned the material. If you fail the bar exam you can take it again. If you fail your drivers license exam you can retake. So why should school be any different?

+1 That's growth mindset, "I don't know this yet"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The goal of school is to learn the material. Why does it matter if they do retakes — they demonstrate they have learned the material. If you fail the bar exam you can take it again. If you fail your drivers license exam you can retake. So why should school be any different?

+1 That's growth mindset, "I don't know this yet"

Exactly. We want kids to learn the material and be motivated to keep trying.

My kid right now has a cool grading policy for geometry that is motivating: the grade is only based on quizzes and tests. If you do better on the test than the quizzes then your quiz scores get bumped up to the test score. And if you get any problems incorrect on the test, you can do a thoughtful exercise on why you got it wrong and how to do it correctly - to bump up grade by 1/2 point per problem.

It's been very motivating for my kid and I hope to see more teachers (esp math) use this grading policy.

[Anonymous]

No, he can’t do anything about FCPS. I teach in another district where zeros are still given. This isn’t a state decision. My own kids attend FCPS and I see my son picking which assignments aren’t worth the effort because the 50 won’t affect the grade on something small. I wish they would go away.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree with you. So many students have no motivation.
It is getting worse every year. They lack basic knowledge. It is because they are not held accountable.

However, I have other students that keep me motivated. They care. I do it for them and I know they appreciate how hard I work to teach them everyday.

My advice is to focus on the ones that care. I tell that to my grade partner every day. Those kids come from all walks of life. Many are poor and from immigrant families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people just want to take away all decision making from locally elected bodies of government?

No, people have just given up on this local school board listening.

+1000