What is going on at Holton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

One subject where the grades are wildly all over the place in upper school is English. A few teachers are fairly easy graders and one in particular is a VERY difficult grader. My DD had the hard grader in 11th grade sadly and her English grade suffered. As a senior she had close to an A+ with another teacher. I wish it had been reversed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

One subject where the grades are wildly all over the place in upper school is English. A few teachers are fairly easy graders and one in particular is a VERY difficult grader. My DD had the hard grader in 11th grade sadly and her English grade suffered. As a senior she had close to an A+ with another teacher. I wish it had been reversed.

It's so frustrating. I don't have many real complaints about Holton but this is one of them. DD had a very hard grader this past year in 9th. Fingers crossed for the remaining years. At the very least it should be consistent across the grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

One subject where the grades are wildly all over the place in upper school is English. A few teachers are fairly easy graders and one in particular is a VERY difficult grader. My DD had the hard grader in 11th grade sadly and her English grade suffered. As a senior she had close to an A+ with another teacher. I wish it had been reversed.

It's so frustrating. I don't have many real complaints about Holton but this is one of them. DD had a very hard grader this past year in 9th. Fingers crossed for the remaining years. At the very least it should be consistent across the grade.

I would tend to trust the grade from a teacher who is a more rigorous grader than from a teacher with students whose grades are close to an A+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

One subject where the grades are wildly all over the place in upper school is English. A few teachers are fairly easy graders and one in particular is a VERY difficult grader. My DD had the hard grader in 11th grade sadly and her English grade suffered. As a senior she had close to an A+ with another teacher. I wish it had been reversed.

It's so frustrating. I don't have many real complaints about Holton but this is one of them. DD had a very hard grader this past year in 9th. Fingers crossed for the remaining years. At the very least it should be consistent across the grade.

I would tend to trust the grade from a teacher who is a more rigorous grader than from a teacher with students whose grades are close to an A+.

Agree. Almost impossible to be at A+ level in English. How can writing be so perfect that almost nothing is wrong? Surely, they cannot be writing Hemingway level good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

One subject where the grades are wildly all over the place in upper school is English. A few teachers are fairly easy graders and one in particular is a VERY difficult grader. My DD had the hard grader in 11th grade sadly and her English grade suffered. As a senior she had close to an A+ with another teacher. I wish it had been reversed.

It's so frustrating. I don't have many real complaints about Holton but this is one of them. DD had a very hard grader this past year in 9th. Fingers crossed for the remaining years. At the very least it should be consistent across the grade.

I would tend to trust the grade from a teacher who is a more rigorous grader than from a teacher with students whose grades are close to an A+.

Agree. Almost impossible to be at A+ level in English. How can writing be so perfect that almost nothing is wrong? Surely, they cannot be writing Hemingway level good.

It shouldn't take renowned author-level good to get an A (a high A even) in a high school English class. It's reasonable (even expected) for there to be a natural bell curve in a class where 1-2 students are at the higher end of the range, most are bunched around the middle (wherever that is) and a few are below, with some variation given the small class sizes. Just as a teacher shouldn't be giving every student a high A, a teacher shouldn't be giving every student low grades either.

[Anonymous]

So does Holton grade on a curve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So does Holton grade on a curve?

No, but most classes should have a natural curve (with some variance for the small class sizes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

First time ever I hear about grade inflation at Holton and that “everyone” knows about it!

[Anonymous]

College admissions know full well how to control for grading practice in each school. Many prestigious private schools (I do not know about Holton) make it getting As easier, particularly early on in High School. With SATs going away as selection criterion (many schools going test blind, not even optional), grade inflation from prestigious privates will punish the kids that are not legacy (or somehow influential) and have limited ability to differentiate themselves academically. Many privates are phasing out APs as well which makes things even more complicated. Of course there are still other non-academic forms to differentiate, but the game is changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College admissions know full well how to control for grading practice in each school. Many prestigious private schools (I do not know about Holton) make it getting As easier, particularly early on in High School. With SATs going away as selection criterion (many schools going test blind, not even optional), grade inflation from prestigious privates will punish the kids that are not legacy (or somehow influential) and have limited ability to differentiate themselves academically. Many privates are phasing out APs as well which makes things even more complicated. Of course there are still other non-academic forms to differentiate, but the game is changing.

Holton is somewhat insulated in this respect in that they grade from 0-100, rather than by letter, so you can still distinguish between a 93 (an otherwise low-end A) and 99+ (high end A). The 5 point adder for honors classes plays into this as well. I think it puts less pressure on teachers, too, because the difference between a 92 and 93 (theoretically an A- and an A) or 89-90 (B to A if not using plusses and minuses) becomes much less consequential, thus removing some of the impetus for inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holton is somewhat insulated in this respect in that they grade from 0-100, rather than by letter, so you can still distinguish between a 93 (an otherwise low-end A) and 99+ (high end A). The 5 point adder for honors classes plays into this as well. I think it puts less pressure on teachers, too, because the difference between a 92 and 93 (theoretically an A- and an A) or 89-90 (B to A if not using plusses and minuses) becomes much less consequential, thus removing some of the impetus for inflation.

I think the girls were told that they're changing this policy for next year and the girls will not know their number grade only a letter grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been considering Holton for a future entry year but are concerned with the themes of two recent posts, which discuss the school making significant changes with seemingly little explanation or concern for parent views (elimination of honors math in MS and the perpetuation of asynchronous days even when school is back in session). What’s behind the recent change in the school’s attitude? I can’t find those themes from past postings about the school and am trying to figure out what’s going on.

Holton has the most diverse and intelligent group of girls in the DMV. Since you are thinking of future entry, seriously consider applying once there is a new administration. The school is under a lot of scrutiny now for poor business decisions and mismanagement. There are bunch of lawsuits and a federal investigation over the AP class issue. Legal problems, including sexual harassment, they don't share with parents or donors. Many disgruntled - not just a few.

Wait, what??? Legal problems? Federal investigation? Sexual harassment? Holton parent here. First I've heard of this. Do tuition and donation dollars pay these legal fees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College admissions know full well how to control for grading practice in each school. Many prestigious private schools (I do not know about Holton) make it getting As easier, particularly early on in High School. With SATs going away as selection criterion (many schools going test blind, not even optional), grade inflation from prestigious privates will punish the kids that are not legacy (or somehow influential) and have limited ability to differentiate themselves academically. Many privates are phasing out APs as well which makes things even more complicated. Of course there are still other non-academic forms to differentiate, but the game is changing.

Plus ca change... On the surface, it seems to change but the game is the same. In fact, the intangibles like legacy, donations, connections will matter even more without some even nominally objective way to compare students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder if all these schools don’t want to continue AP classes because then it would show how much they inflate grades. Kid gets A’s in the class and then doesn’t pass the test = school looks bad. Kid studies and takes the AP exam on their own and doesn’t get a high score = no fault on the school’s part.

+1 inflated grades

PPs clearly know nothing about Holton.

There is a lot of grade inflation at Holton. Everyone knows about it and is fine with it. It only becomes an issue for college process when parents are surprised that those same high grades mean nothing because every other girl has the same high grades.

Hmm...I am not sure about your definition of grade inflation. A senior with 93/100 is in the top ten percent of the class.

One subject where the grades are wildly all over the place in upper school is English. A few teachers are fairly easy graders and one in particular is a VERY difficult grader. My DD had the hard grader in 11th grade sadly and her English grade suffered. As a senior she had close to an A+ with another teacher. I wish it had been reversed.

It's so frustrating. I don't have many real complaints about Holton but this is one of them. DD had a very hard grader this past year in 9th. Fingers crossed for the remaining years. At the very least it should be consistent across the grade.

I would tend to trust the grade from a teacher who is a more rigorous grader than from a teacher with students whose grades are close to an A+.

Agree. Almost impossible to be at A+ level in English. How can writing be so perfect that almost nothing is wrong? Surely, they cannot be writing Hemingway level good.

An A+ means you are meeting the expectations of that class. Writing the next Great American Novel is not the criteria for earning an A in a high school English class.