MCPS Grading Policy
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| In MCPS middle schools you have to option to take one of two levels of World Language. For instance Spanish 1A in 7th grade or Spanish 1A/B. The 1A/B is equivalent to a high school level course. While the entire lower level is equal to a half year in high school. The grades for both go on the student record and factor in the overall high school GPA. The problem is an A is given 4 numerical points for both the advanced and non-advanced course. In high school when you take and advanced class - honors or advanced placement you receive a numerical value of a 5 for an A, 4 for B, etc.. By not raising the numerical value for advanced middle school classes you are reducing the GPA. Furthermore, it is expected that a student received a lower grade in the advanced middle school class. I say change the numerical rating. Please give me your opinions. Thanks in advance. |
Anonymous
| Interesting! And good to know. I'd be inclined to have my kids just do the 1A. What would be the benefit of pushing ahead, unless the kid is already fluent and guaranteed to do well? |
Anonymous
| There are no honor classes for languages until the third year no matter where there are taken. Whether you take 1a1b in one year or two it is still the same class. No extra grade points. |
Anonymous
What's the point of taking the language if the kid is already fluent and guaranteed to do well? The benefit of pushing ahead with the language is learning the language. |
Anonymous
| True it is not an honors class. But it is an advanced class for middle school. Just like honors and AP is an advanced class for high school. |
Anonymous
| But it is being graded as a HS class. That is why you get HS credit. Same with math. There is no honors algebra any where. But if you take geometry in Ms it is an honors class and you get the point.. in HS both honors and regular geometry are offered. |
Anonymous
I do not understand what you are trying to say. Could you please explain using examples? |
Anonymous
| Both are not advanced classes..one is just slower |
Anonymous
| Some Middle Schools don't have the one HS semester in one year option. |
Anonymous
Semantics. It's a high school level class for 11 year olds so I'd call it advanced. |
Anonymous
|
The whole thing is idiotic. They should just offer a good soli spanish class. When kids get to H.S., they can take whatever Spanish class is appropriate for their level. The idea that a sixth or seventh grader is taking a class that is going on their high school transcript is idiotic.
(I took Spaniish in middle school back in the dark ages, and then went into Spanish II as a freshman in high school. But my grades in middle school Spanish were quite bad, because I just wasn't very focused in middle school. Had I been worried about my high school transcript, I might have dropped it, and thereby lost out on a language in which I later became fluent and used for study abroad and jobs later in life.) |
Anonymous
|
Wait. My son will take Geometry in 8th grade. If he gets a 4 out of 4, are you saying that he might have gotten a 5 out of 5 had he taken the course in high school?
|
Anonymous
| My DC is taking Spanish 1 as a freshman. It is truly idiotic. The class is so easy that I don't see any reason why a middle schooler couldn't finish it in one year. Spanish 1 at a private high school would progress much more quickly and expect more. Many of the assessments are multiple choice. I really wish that Honors Spanish 1 were available, but it doesn't exist in MCPS. |
Anonymous
| 22:46 again - There are advantages to your child finishing Spanish 2 BEFORE high school. The main advantage is that your child will never be in a high school language class with classmates simply trying to finish a high school graduation requirement. Everyone in Honors Spanish 3 is taking it because he/she wants to get into a good college (or, at least, this is what their parents want). They have already finished the basic requirement of two years. |
Anonymous
|
High school credits are weighted if they are the more advanced versions of high school classes, regardless of when they are taken.
If a student takes Foreign Language 1, whether in middle school or high school, it won't be weighted. I think foreign language classes begin to be weighted in the third year level. A geometry class is not weighted regardless of when it is taken. An honors geometry class, however, is weighted. It doesn't matter if a student takes the class as a sixth grader or a twelfth grader. It seems to make sense to weight the classes according to their difficulty. If you want to gain the system to maximize GPA, you are free to do that. If you want to maximize learning options and not worry about GPA, you are also welcome to do that. Middle schoolers who do poorly are given the option to have the grade erased from the transcript. Class titles and weights have to address what the student knows to be meaningful. I don't think when it is learned is the issue. Although, a student with seven foreign language credits taking AP Foreign Language Lit, or a student with seven math credits taking Linear Algebra I think makes a statement to colleges. They will have many weighted courses to bring up their GPAs, and I don't think they're going to quibble if a sixth grader got a B in a class. Incidentally, MCPS doesn't do class rankings, and it's my understanding that colleges often recalculate GPAs without the weights. |