Whose happy with Jackson Reed this year. Considering new Macarthur school.

[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:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.



The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

To be fair, about a quarter of the class had GPAs between 3.5 and 3.99 (unweighted). So there seems to be an abundance of As, but nowhere near "massive grade inflation".

How many weighted GPAs above 4.0?

Why does that matter? Top colleges care about performance and rigor. Rigor they can see from the AP courses on the transcript, performance from the unweighted GPA.

I'm curious. You or another PP posted a bunch of select stats. I'd be interested in a fuller picture, as it is relevant to the above discussion.

The stats are from the school profile, which doesn’t give the distribution of weighted GPAs. I think it’s smart of JR to give just the unweighted distribution, because it’s giving top colleges the stats they actually want. A kid with a 4.0 unweighted and a lot of APs is actually rare at JR, and the college admissions for those kids reflect that.

High unweighted GPAs are valuable for merit discounts at schools like WVU, which is valuable to a different tranche of JR students. The system at JR serves both groups well.

Private schools are playing a different game; they’re sending their second-tier students full pay to second-tier SLACs. They don’t need grade bumps in GPA because the admissions offices at those schools add points for having attended a rigorous high school (or, more cynically, for having attended an expensive high school).

No, they're send the 4th tier to second tier liberal arts colleges. First tier to Ivies, second tier to University of Chicago and similar, third tier to top 50 universities.
I know you probably don't care but the misinformation bothers me. My kid is at STA (other kid at DCPS). Last year, class of 70 kids. 20 to the Ivies, 12 to University of Chicago itself, 25 more to top 30 universities. Second tier liberal arts colleges pull up the rear.

[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:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.



The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

To be fair, about a quarter of the class had GPAs between 3.5 and 3.99 (unweighted). So there seems to be an abundance of As, but nowhere near "massive grade inflation".

How many weighted GPAs above 4.0?

Why does that matter? Top colleges care about performance and rigor. Rigor they can see from the AP courses on the transcript, performance from the unweighted GPA.

I'm curious. You or another PP posted a bunch of select stats. I'd be interested in a fuller picture, as it is relevant to the above discussion.

The stats are from the school profile, which doesn’t give the distribution of weighted GPAs. I think it’s smart of JR to give just the unweighted distribution, because it’s giving top colleges the stats they actually want. A kid with a 4.0 unweighted and a lot of APs is actually rare at JR, and the college admissions for those kids reflect that.

High unweighted GPAs are valuable for merit discounts at schools like WVU, which is valuable to a different tranche of JR students. The system at JR serves both groups well.

Private schools are playing a different game; they’re sending their second-tier students full pay to second-tier SLACs. They don’t need grade bumps in GPA because the admissions offices at those schools add points for having attended a rigorous high school (or, more cynically, for having attended an expensive high school).

Exactly. I’m the PP who posted the stats above. Given the varied AP landscape—including the fact that many private schools don’t even offer them—unweighted GPA + transcript is the way colleges try to create apples to apples comparisons.

Also, the school profile is publicly available on JR’s website. If you think we’re providing “select stats,” go check it out for yourself. I looked at school profiles for Sidwell, NCS, St. Albans, and GDS, and none provide the sort of GPA breakdown JR does, so it’s impossible to validate claims that private schools give out proportionally fewer high grades.

[Anonymous]

Would be interested to hear from those with a choice who plan to send kid to JR vs MacArthur. I’ve heard some parents who are learning JR as a known quantity, particularly those who have older siblings at JR already. I like the idea of the smaller size of MacArthur but the lack of any track record is hard to gamble with.
I’m also intrigued by the idea of what a school that doesn’t have the influence of older grades in the beginning might be like - eg first year just 9 and 10 grades and then just 9, 10, 11 for second year. Interesting for thinking about social pressures and influences.

[Anonymous]

No way would I let my kid be a guinea pig at a brand new school.
We will stick with JR which we know is mediocre at best.
Actually, maybe not. I have an older kid who went through JR and I just remembered that 9th grade at JR sucks - way too easy, mostly bad to middling teachers, complete waste of time. So maybe it is worth trying out the new school. Can it really get much worse than JR. I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.

The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

All you need is a 3 on a few AP exams to be an AP scholar. It’s not hard at all or really not that impressive. Numbers mean nothing. You need to look at the percentages since JR is so big of a school. The privates are close to high 90’s in kids scoring 3 or above with many, many scoring 4 and 5.

Contrast that to JR where almost 50% of the kids get a 1 or 2 on AP exams. Then the rest of the majority get a 3. The numbers of kids with all 4 or 5’s is very small. And those kids definately supplemented outside of school.

Grades are meaningless if there are retakes and grade inflation. You need to look at standardized test scores and AP scores. The SAT average at JR is really low, think it’s 1050 maybe? Also look at PARCC scores, especially math. This year I think it’s like 18% are on or above grade level with majority of these kids on grade level. There is not many high performing kids at the school relative to the SES level and education of families. This is because most of the top kids have bailed and left the system. You have left the mediocre and below kids.

[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:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.



The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

To be fair, about a quarter of the class had GPAs between 3.5 and 3.99 (unweighted). So there seems to be an abundance of As, but nowhere near "massive grade inflation".

How many weighted GPAs above 4.0?

Why does that matter? Top colleges care about performance and rigor. Rigor they can see from the AP courses on the transcript, performance from the unweighted GPA.

I'm curious. You or another PP posted a bunch of select stats. I'd be interested in a fuller picture, as it is relevant to the above discussion.

The stats are from the school profile, which doesn’t give the distribution of weighted GPAs. I think it’s smart of JR to give just the unweighted distribution, because it’s giving top colleges the stats they actually want. A kid with a 4.0 unweighted and a lot of APs is actually rare at JR, and the college admissions for those kids reflect that.

High unweighted GPAs are valuable for merit discounts at schools like WVU, which is valuable to a different tranche of JR students. The system at JR serves both groups well.

Private schools are playing a different game; they’re sending their second-tier students full pay to second-tier SLACs. They don’t need grade bumps in GPA because the admissions offices at those schools add points for having attended a rigorous high school (or, more cynically, for having attended an expensive high school).

No, they're send the 4th tier to second tier liberal arts colleges. First tier to Ivies, second tier to University of Chicago and similar, third tier to top 50 universities.
I know you probably don't care but the misinformation bothers me. My kid is at STA (other kid at DCPS). Last year, class of 70 kids. 20 to the Ivies, 12 to University of Chicago itself, 25 more to top 30 universities. Second tier liberal arts colleges pull up the rear.

University of Chicago had been a safety school for NCS and STA kids for decades. Chicago just really seems to like and accept NCS and StA kids .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.

The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

All you need is a 3 on a few AP exams to be an AP scholar. It’s not hard at all or really not that impressive. Numbers mean nothing. You need to look at the percentages since JR is so big of a school. The privates are close to high 90’s in kids scoring 3 or above with many, many scoring 4 and 5.

Contrast that to JR where almost 50% of the kids get a 1 or 2 on AP exams. Then the rest of the majority get a 3. The numbers of kids with all 4 or 5’s is very small. And those kids definately supplemented outside of school.

Grades are meaningless if there are retakes and grade inflation. You need to look at standardized test scores and AP scores. The SAT average at JR is really low, think it’s 1050 maybe? Also look at PARCC scores, especially math. This year I think it’s like 18% are on or above grade level with majority of these kids on grade level. There is not many high performing kids at the school relative to the SES level and education of families. This is because most of the top kids have bailed and left the system. You have left the mediocre and below kids.

Let’s be specific since we have data:

58% got a 3 or above on AP exams, meaning 42% got a 1 or 2. I guess you can call that “almost 50%,” but it seems like a stretch.

If there were 99 AP scholars, that means at least 99 kids getting 4 or 5 on multiple exams (since you have to average 3.5 and have gotten 3 or higher on five exams. If you got four 3s and only one 5, you average 3.4, so you’d have to have gotten at least a 4 on a second exam). That’s more than 20% of the class getting 4s and 5s on multiple tests—and that’s just from AP Scholars with Distinction alone. Presumably some portion of the other 135 kids who got at least AP Scholar also scored some 4s/5s.

Again on grade inflation, we have data from JR that shows 30% of the class graduated with an unweighted 3.5 or above. We don’t have that information for the private schools to compare, so we can’t really conclude anything on this point.

As to retakes, they’re a great way to ensure kids actually understand concepts. I have a kid in AP Physics at JR who has been doing well overall but did poorly on one test (along with pretty much the whole class); kid sought help from the teacher, learned the concept, and did well on the retake. That seems like a good thing to me. Also, the max you can end up with after a retake is an 86, according to my kid. So it’s not like a second chance to get a 100.

[Anonymous]

Of course there’s grade inflation. Look at the percentages of kids getting A’s and B averages. It’s like 3/4 of the kids.

I don’t care what grade you can get with retakes. It’s grade inflation if you get to retake a test and get the higher grade. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

But the earlier point was that you’re paying for what you want to be a leg up for a kid at a big three and then get upset that any kids at JR get into good colleges or believe they shouldn’t because they’ve had what your view as an inferior education and throw around claims that kids at JR aren’t prepared for college (with “prepared” being what the big three has sold parents as “the best”) when you really don’t know but you want to feel that your “superior” (bought and paid for) experience essential means your kids are the only ones worthy of select colleges.

Let’s be truthful here. The kids at JR now getting into top colleges, parents have been supplementing a lot most of the way thru DCPS from middle school and up.

The Deal/JR great days are gone. It’s gone downhill since the honors for all. Many families with top students are abandoning ship much earlier or who would not in the past.

We have two strong students at JR. What counts as supplementing? The only thing we’ve done is gotten a tutor when a kid has struggled with a subject (math), which has happened maybe twice in the last six years. I assume people in private school do the same.

But if you mean we have to teach our kids things they aren’t learning in school, we’ve never done that. And I don’t think I know anyone who does? Most of the parents at JR seem pretty hands off.

It’s obvious you have a false sense of security. Massive grade inflation and everyone gets A’s. Classes are way too easy until you get to AP and even those classes are not too rigorous when over 1/2 the kids at the school can’t even get a 3 on the exam.

Above is not specific to JR. It’s a systemic problem in DCPS.

Do I? According to JR’s class of 2022 profile, only 26 students (5.6%) had an unweighted 4.0. There were 93 AP Scholars, 42 AP Scholars with Honors, and 99 Scholars with Distinction. Seems like these talking points are BS.

All you need is a 3 on a few AP exams to be an AP scholar. It’s not hard at all or really not that impressive. Numbers mean nothing. You need to look at the percentages since JR is so big of a school. The privates are close to high 90’s in kids scoring 3 or above with many, many scoring 4 and 5.

Contrast that to JR where almost 50% of the kids get a 1 or 2 on AP exams. Then the rest of the majority get a 3. The numbers of kids with all 4 or 5’s is very small. And those kids definately supplemented outside of school.

Grades are meaningless if there are retakes and grade inflation. You need to look at standardized test scores and AP scores. The SAT average at JR is really low, think it’s 1050 maybe? Also look at PARCC scores, especially math. This year I think it’s like 18% are on or above grade level with majority of these kids on grade level. There is not many high performing kids at the school relative to the SES level and education of families. This is because most of the top kids have bailed and left the system. You have left the mediocre and below kids.

Let’s be specific since we have data:

58% got a 3 or above on AP exams, meaning 42% got a 1 or 2. I guess you can call that “almost 50%,” but it seems like a stretch.

If there were 99 AP scholars, that means at least 99 kids getting 4 or 5 on multiple exams (since you have to average 3.5 and have gotten 3 or higher on five exams. If you got four 3s and only one 5, you average 3.4, so you’d have to have gotten at least a 4 on a second exam). That’s more than 20% of the class getting 4s and 5s on multiple tests—and that’s just from AP Scholars with Distinction alone. Presumably some portion of the other 135 kids who got at least AP Scholar also scored some 4s/5s.

Again on grade inflation, we have data from JR that shows 30% of the class graduated with an unweighted 3.5 or above. We don’t have that information for the private schools to compare, so we can’t really conclude anything on this point.

As to retakes, they’re a great way to ensure kids actually understand concepts. I have a kid in AP Physics at JR who has been doing well overall but did poorly on one test (along with pretty much the whole class); kid sought help from the teacher, learned the concept, and did well on the retake. That seems like a good thing to me. Also, the max you can end up with after a retake is an 86, according to my kid. So it’s not like a second chance to get a 100.

The top privates all have significant grade deflation. (STA, NCS, Sidwell tier), The next rung down and the Catholic high schools don't really have deflation.
My kid went from Deal to NCS and the rumor at NCS is that there hasn't been a 4.0 grad in 45 years. And this is a school full of kids who were all top of their sending schools.
My own kid never got less than an A at Deal, took algebra 2, 99% PARCC scores each year, and is pretty much a B student at NCS.
STA does a numerical GPA and a family friend with an overall 92% GPA got into HYP in the last couple of years unhooked (not a minority, legacy, athlete, etc). So that puts it in perspective.

[Anonymous]

My kid graduated from J-R (Wilson) with a 4.0 UW. Never re-took a test. Full stop. Don't assume everyone needs an option, or takes advantage of one, just because it is given. And if they do, who cares? I went to private school. I still remember every red line in every paper and learned that it was a failure. Full stop. There was no attitude that life is about learning and trying and trying again. Why is first time perfection the only and best way to go? And why do you think so many adults don't think they are good enough? Start celebrating people at any age who actually want to learn something. Most of the kids we know who chose privates over public did so because they thought their child would do better in a smaller school with more attention, where someone would be looking out for them and they could get special attention for their needs at public. I get that. But they weren't smarter or better. They had needs, just like everyone else. Please stop all this my kid is better than yours because of where we sent them to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid graduated from J-R (Wilson) with a 4.0 UW. Never re-took a test. Full stop. Don't assume everyone needs an option, or takes advantage of one, just because it is given. And if they do, who cares? I went to private school. I still remember every red line in every paper and learned that it was a failure. Full stop. There was no attitude that life is about learning and trying and trying again. Why is first time perfection the only and best way to go? And why do you think so many adults don't think they are good enough? Start celebrating people at any age who actually want to learn something. Most of the kids we know who chose privates over public did so because they thought their child would do better in a smaller school with more attention, where someone would be looking out for them and they could get special attention for their needs at public. I get that. But they weren't smarter or better. They had needs, just like everyone else. Please stop all this my kid is better than yours because of where we sent them to school.

Ok so your kid never did. But many kids do. The point of the discussion is that there is in fact grade inflation at JR. Substituting a lower grade for a higher grade by retaking a test is the definition of grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Oh! There is a point to this discussion? I didn’t realize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh! There is a point to this discussion? I didn’t realize.

Let me guess, you also don’t believe there is grade inflation at JR.

I just find it astonishing that some parents are either just clueless or in complete denial about this at JR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

This sounds terrible... As if not being a couple of minutes late counts as much as the quality of your work. Building rule following rigid automatons...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe it. Top privates care about results vs. equity.

Oh right, I’m sure they let the kids sink or swim when it comes to college admissions.

Probably not an issue because of the the clear high expectations.

Not a "F" = 63%, no work "WS" = 50%, "tardy" is actually 5 minutes after the tardy bell, and any missing assignment must be allowed to be completed at any time with an 8% max deduction.

yup. My kid goes to a "big3" private that starts at 8am. If you walk into the kid's ELA class a minute late on a day that an assignment is due, it is dropped by 5%.
8:01 arrival? That 90% is now an 85%. It took my kid one paper to start arriving to school by 7:50 (to allow a buffer zone for whatever might come up).

This sounds terrible... As if not being a couple of minutes late counts as much as the quality of your work. Building rule following rigid automatons...

Assignment grades should be based on assignments. Being late should be handled differently, shown to be disrespectful to the teacher and your peers. Otherwise what? If you're late to meet your friends it's ok because there's no loss of points?