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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

Most schools already have it in place. There are a few who need to be brought up to speed.

[Anonymous]

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

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

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

+1

[Anonymous]

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

This is not our school.

[Anonymous]

There needs to be an incentive and reward to actually get learn material the first time without a retake. Capping the retake grade at 90% rewards the hardworking students and prevents kids from just retaking the test over again until they get an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There needs to be an incentive and reward to actually get learn material the first time without a retake. Capping the retake grade at 90% rewards the hardworking students and prevents kids from just retaking the test over again until they get an A.

In our school, the retakes seem to be harder than the first test. So grades very rarely go up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There needs to be an incentive and reward to actually get learn material the first time without a retake. Capping the retake grade at 90% rewards the hardworking students and prevents kids from just retaking the test over again until they get an A.

In our school, the retakes seem to be harder than the first test. So grades very rarely go up.

That’s good then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There needs to be an incentive and reward to actually get learn material the first time without a retake. Capping the retake grade at 90% rewards the hardworking students and prevents kids from just retaking the test over again until they get an A.

In our school, the retakes seem to be harder than the first test. So grades very rarely go up.

Retakes need to go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There needs to be an incentive and reward to actually get learn material the first time without a retake. Capping the retake grade at 90% rewards the hardworking students and prevents kids from just retaking the test over again until they get an A.

In our school, the retakes seem to be harder than the first test. So grades very rarely go up.

Retakes need to go

+1

[Anonymous]

Retakes are necessary. There are kids with slow-processing, kids with anxiety, kids with spectrum issues, etc. These kids are studying hard for the first test, yet get low grades due to ‘gotcha ya’ questions and tests being worth such few questions. These kids who are poor test takers and who have trouble applying info in a timed setting benefit from a second chance. The problem is with the 90% cap on the retake because it boxes them out of an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Retakes are necessary. There are kids with slow-processing, kids with anxiety, kids with spectrum issues, etc. These kids are studying hard for the first test, yet get low grades due to ‘gotcha ya’ questions and tests being worth such few questions. These kids who are poor test takers and who have trouble applying info in a timed setting benefit from a second chance. The problem is with the 90% cap on the retake because it boxes them out of an A.

Sorry, but that's life. Not everything is easy for everyone, and not everything deserves a retake.

If retakes are allowed, the cap should be 70% or maybe 75%. A C is average, so a C should be the cap for retakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is not our school.

No at my son's school. Maybe your school is too easy.

[Anonymous]

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

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

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

No a lot of kids in FCPS have tutors because the material is not being taught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

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

Are you a teacher at this excellent middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retakes are necessary. There are kids with slow-processing, kids with anxiety, kids with spectrum issues, etc. These kids are studying hard for the first test, yet get low grades due to ‘gotcha ya’ questions and tests being worth such few questions. These kids who are poor test takers and who have trouble applying info in a timed setting benefit from a second chance. The problem is with the 90% cap on the retake because it boxes them out of an A.

Sorry, but that's life. Not everything is easy for everyone, and not everything deserves a retake.

If retakes are allowed, the cap should be 70% or maybe 75%. A C is average, so a C should be the cap for retakes.

This is very telling about your lack of tolerance with neuro-divergent kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

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

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

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

Are you a teacher at this excellent middle school

My job is in the public sector, but I am not a teacher, nor do I work in the field of education.

Why the eye roll? Are people not entitled to appreciate the efforts and successes of their children's teachers and school? Are people that jaded that they believe any compliment of an institution must come from someone who works there?