MISA Out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:while i don't see grades yet - one of my 9th graders said her teacher told her today that most of the class got As with a few Bs on the LS-MISA. This is an advanced freshman bio class

All bio classes are designated as "honors," so there's no such thing as an advanced bio class (same with English - everyone's "advanced").

Pretty sure the Blair magnet bio class, which is taken in 10th, not 9th, is advanced and not the same hons bio that others take

In fact there are 7 different first-year Bio classes for MISA. Some are only at certain Magnets.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/eoc/mcps_eoc_studentflyerwfaqs-updated2024-06v1.pdf

[Anonymous]

I don't think this grading is right. My kid did really well on the bio test from regular bio (school does not offer AP). Several kids we know did really well. It was released today, some kids were told yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Interestingly, there are several ways in which the MISA could bring down your grade, but not really any way it would improve your grade. The only way that an excellent score on MISA would imrpove your grade is if you have D's in both quarters (or an E and a D) but get an A on MISA, it would bring your grade up to a C -- or if you failed both semesters and got an A or B on the exam, you would end with a D.

So this test is really just a losing proposition for the kids. I do wish there was some way that the kids could get some benefit from doing well -- like if you had a teacher that did not grade fairly, but you still learned all the material and did well on the MISA. Is the score reported on the transcript anywhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this grading is right. My kid did really well on the bio test from regular bio (school does not offer AP). Several kids we know did really well. It was released today, some kids were told yesterday.

Where was it released?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure most everyone got the email today with a link (https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/eoc/mcps_eoc_studentflyerwfaqs-updated2024-06v1.pdf) to this info, but I thought I would place it here to close the loop on some of the questions in this thread. What we don't know yet is the percentage of students who scored in each of these categories.

What MCPS has posted about how EOC (MISA/MCAP) scores were translated to letter grades:


GRADE CONVERSION SCORE (GCS) TABLE

Letter Grade: A GCS Score: 90-100 -- LS MISA Score Range: 757-850 Am Gov Score Range: 466-650
Letter Grade: B GCS Score: 80-89 -- LS MISA Score Range: 744-756 Am Gov Score Range: 442-465
Letter Grade: C GCS Score: 70-79 -- LS MISA Score Range: 737-743 Am Gov Score Range: 419-441
Letter Grade: D GCS Score: 60-69 -- LS MISA Score Range: 731-736 Am Gov Score Range: 394-418
Letter Grade: E GCS Score: 50-59 -- LS MISA Score Range: 650-730 Am Gov Score Range: 240-393

What does the Grade Conversion Score chart mean?
The “Test Scale Score” refers to the student’s EOC exam overall (either LS MISA or American Government). It is based on the questions answered correctly on the exam.
The “GCS Score” refers to the Grade Conversion Scale score that is based on the Test Scale Score. It has a floor of 50 and a ceiling of 100.
The “Letter Grade” refers to the grade, A through E, the student received on the EOC exam and that will count for 20 percent of the student’s final course grade. The Letter Grade is based on the GCS score: a GCS score of 90 and above converts to a letter grade of “A,” 80 through 89 to a “B,” 70 through 79 to a “C,” 60 through 69 to a “D,” and 59 and below to a letter grade of “E.”

Shows you that they graded on the curve. The huge, almost 100 point spread for an A, while there was only a 12 point spread for a B and a 6 point spread for a C means that they really had to dip down to find enough people to get the top score.

[Anonymous]

Did Mcps get to set the grade conversion? Or is it set by the state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, there are several ways in which the MISA could bring down your grade, but not really any way it would improve your grade. The only way that an excellent score on MISA would imrpove your grade is if you have D's in both quarters (or an E and a D) but get an A on MISA, it would bring your grade up to a C -- or if you failed both semesters and got an A or B on the exam, you would end with a D.

So this test is really just a losing proposition for the kids. I do wish there was some way that the kids could get some benefit from doing well -- like if you had a teacher that did not grade fairly, but you still learned all the material and did well on the MISA. Is the score reported on the transcript anywhere?

Do you have any evidence that this mythical situation happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, there are several ways in which the MISA could bring down your grade, but not really any way it would improve your grade. The only way that an excellent score on MISA would imrpove your grade is if you have D's in both quarters (or an E and a D) but get an A on MISA, it would bring your grade up to a C -- or if you failed both semesters and got an A or B on the exam, you would end with a D.

So this test is really just a losing proposition for the kids. I do wish there was some way that the kids could get some benefit from doing well -- like if you had a teacher that did not grade fairly, but you still learned all the material and did well on the MISA. Is the score reported on the transcript anywhere?

It benefits kids who do well but it hurts kids, like mine (mine did well), who had bad teachers who barely did anything and the school didn't have AP or any advanced bio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone seen the grading scale posted? My child scored 756, which he said was one point from an A.

If 757 is the minimum for an A, then it sounds like they are pulling many people who score level 3 into the category. I pulled this from earlier in the thread from last year:

Level 4 (Distinguished): 4% - cutoff 772/850
Level 3 (Proficient): 30% - cutoff 750/850
Level 2 (Developing): 41% - cutoff 731/850
Level 1 (Beginning): 25% - cutoff 650/850

Earlier in the thread, a teacher said the cutoffs between the levels were different this year.

I wonder if they are making it easier to get a 4 -- from a 772 to a 757.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, there are several ways in which the MISA could bring down your grade, but not really any way it would improve your grade. The only way that an excellent score on MISA would imrpove your grade is if you have D's in both quarters (or an E and a D) but get an A on MISA, it would bring your grade up to a C -- or if you failed both semesters and got an A or B on the exam, you would end with a D.

So this test is really just a losing proposition for the kids. I do wish there was some way that the kids could get some benefit from doing well -- like if you had a teacher that did not grade fairly, but you still learned all the material and did well on the MISA. Is the score reported on the transcript anywhere?

Do you have any evidence that this mythical situation happened?

It’s not a situation—it’s just an observation based on the chart posted. There are essentially no kids for whom this test will improve their grade. There is a moderate subset for whom it will decrease their grade (eg kids who have an A first quarter, a B second quarter, and a B on the test.). It’s just interesting that there’s almost no way it would help your grade except in the very rare circumstance where you are getting Ds and Fs in the class but an A on the test.

[Anonymous]

My kid got an A for the quarter but never got their MISA score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Shows you that they graded on the curve. The huge, almost 100 point spread for an A, while there was only a 12 point spread for a B and a 6 point spread for a C means that they really had to dip down to find enough people to get the top score.

Also, how is the "lowest" score 650? Is 650 a zero? Does everyone just get 650 free points? Does a 200 score get rounded up to 650, sort of like to 50% rule?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this grading is right. My kid did really well on the bio test from regular bio (school does not offer AP). Several kids we know did really well. It was released today, some kids were told yesterday.

Where was it released?

My kid said their teacher told them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Shows you that they graded on the curve. The huge, almost 100 point spread for an A, while there was only a 12 point spread for a B and a 6 point spread for a C means that they really had to dip down to find enough people to get the top score.

Also, how is the "lowest" score 650? Is 650 a zero? Does everyone just get 650 free points? Does a 200 score get rounded up to 650, sort of like to 50% rule?

A lot of tests are like that. The lowest score in the SAT is 400, not 0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interestingly, there are several ways in which the MISA could bring down your grade, but not really any way it would improve your grade. The only way that an excellent score on MISA would imrpove your grade is if you have D's in both quarters (or an E and a D) but get an A on MISA, it would bring your grade up to a C -- or if you failed both semesters and got an A or B on the exam, you would end with a D.

So this test is really just a losing proposition for the kids. I do wish there was some way that the kids could get some benefit from doing well -- like if you had a teacher that did not grade fairly, but you still learned all the material and did well on the MISA. Is the score reported on the transcript anywhere?

That’s because MCPS grading is as generous as possible. A + B is already A, so a MISA A wouldn't make a difference, but a B would.

I can’t open the grade conversion document, but it seems like the only way for MISA to be able to raise the grade would be if it lifted A + C + MISA A to A instead of B (or equivalent).