People treating the news that schools are cancelling AP classes as if it’s completely normal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AP for all is not the same as no AP. And the value of AP is not determined solely by the exam results. Not all students will get the same value from AP, but every student will gain background knowledge, rare-word vocabulary, and the experience of taking a high-level course. I'm not sure how they will pull this off, but it's worth trying. Try not to be stingy with knowledge. There's enough for everyone.

You realize the same cohort has already had “Honors for All” in 9th and 10th, and that didn’t magically fix AP enrollment in the way they wished. So it seems that it has already been tried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

I am a DCPS teacher and it all comes down to numbers. DCPS doesn’t want high rates of kids failing. It makes the school district look better to have fewer kids fail so they lowered the bar. Grades mean nothing. You can learn nothing all year and pass a grade/class. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Which is why as much as I dislike standardized tests and find them flawed, without them we would have no clue if kids actually know content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

I am a DCPS teacher and it all comes down to numbers. DCPS doesn’t want high rates of kids failing. It makes the school district look better to have fewer kids fail so they lowered the bar. Grades mean nothing. You can learn nothing all year and pass a grade/class. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Which is why as much as I dislike standardized tests and find them flawed, without them we would have no clue if kids actually know content.

My kid has an IEP and I always strongly suspected that the teachers low-ball the grades on the first report card so they can increase them over the year to show "progress." The only way I've actually been able to understand how he's doing is by comparing his work to other kids in person (actually somewhat easier with DL) and standardized testing. He's ahead in some areas, behind in others. I find grades and report cards absolutely worthless. When I read the report card it's almost like they are describing a different child. I even had the surreal experience in PK3 of reading a report card from a teacher (who all term had been sending me increasingly unhinged emails about how terrible his behavior was) claiming that he was doing great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

I am a DCPS teacher and it all comes down to numbers. DCPS doesn’t want high rates of kids failing. It makes the school district look better to have fewer kids fail so they lowered the bar. Grades mean nothing. You can learn nothing all year and pass a grade/class. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Which is why as much as I dislike standardized tests and find them flawed, without them we would have no clue if kids actually know content.

My kid has an IEP and I always strongly suspected that the teachers low-ball the grades on the first report card so they can increase them over the year to show "progress." The only way I've actually been able to understand how he's doing is by comparing his work to other kids in person (actually somewhat easier with DL) and standardized testing. He's ahead in some areas, behind in others. I find grades and report cards absolutely worthless. When I read the report card it's almost like they are describing a different child. I even had the surreal experience in PK3 of reading a report card from a teacher (who all term had been sending me increasingly unhinged emails about how terrible his behavior was) claiming that he was doing great.

Teachers have told me they are not allowed to assign 4's to kids in terms 1 and 2 otherwise they will show no progress. Like, they can't be a 4 because they haven't completed terms 1 and 2. I kind of see the logic, but it was weird when my first grader who was reading at a ninth grade level (per the school's testing) got a 3 in reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

I am a DCPS teacher and it all comes down to numbers. DCPS doesn’t want high rates of kids failing. It makes the school district look better to have fewer kids fail so they lowered the bar. Grades mean nothing. You can learn nothing all year and pass a grade/class. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Which is why as much as I dislike standardized tests and find them flawed, without them we would have no clue if kids actually know content.

My kid has an IEP and I always strongly suspected that the teachers low-ball the grades on the first report card so they can increase them over the year to show "progress." The only way I've actually been able to understand how he's doing is by comparing his work to other kids in person (actually somewhat easier with DL) and standardized testing. He's ahead in some areas, behind in others. I find grades and report cards absolutely worthless. When I read the report card it's almost like they are describing a different child. I even had the surreal experience in PK3 of reading a report card from a teacher (who all term had been sending me increasingly unhinged emails about how terrible his behavior was) claiming that he was doing great.

Teachers have told me they are not allowed to assign 4's to kids in terms 1 and 2 otherwise they will show no progress. Like, they can't be a 4 because they haven't completed terms 1 and 2. I kind of see the logic, but it was weird when my first grader who was reading at a ninth grade level (per the school's testing) got a 3 in reading.

ha! I knew it. My DS has a lot of challenges but it always seemed weird to me that they downplayed his reading. He finally got a 4 this year. He's a very, very good reader who can handle pretty much anything at this point. The only thing I could think of is that they were using some kind of assessment that measured some metric other than straight fluency and comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

I am a DCPS teacher and it all comes down to numbers. DCPS doesn’t want high rates of kids failing. It makes the school district look better to have fewer kids fail so they lowered the bar. Grades mean nothing. You can learn nothing all year and pass a grade/class. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Which is why as much as I dislike standardized tests and find them flawed, without them we would have no clue if kids actually know content.

My kid has an IEP and I always strongly suspected that the teachers low-ball the grades on the first report card so they can increase them over the year to show "progress." The only way I've actually been able to understand how he's doing is by comparing his work to other kids in person (actually somewhat easier with DL) and standardized testing. He's ahead in some areas, behind in others. I find grades and report cards absolutely worthless. When I read the report card it's almost like they are describing a different child. I even had the surreal experience in PK3 of reading a report card from a teacher (who all term had been sending me increasingly unhinged emails about how terrible his behavior was) claiming that he was doing great.

Teachers have told me they are not allowed to assign 4's to kids in terms 1 and 2 otherwise they will show no progress. Like, they can't be a 4 because they haven't completed terms 1 and 2. I kind of see the logic, but it was weird when my first grader who was reading at a ninth grade level (per the school's testing) got a 3 in reading.

That is a big range. Is this a DC specific test or is it used elsewhere? I've been wondering how much assessments vary across states/cities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

I am a DCPS teacher and it all comes down to numbers. DCPS doesn’t want high rates of kids failing. It makes the school district look better to have fewer kids fail so they lowered the bar. Grades mean nothing. You can learn nothing all year and pass a grade/class. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Which is why as much as I dislike standardized tests and find them flawed, without them we would have no clue if kids actually know content.

My kid has an IEP and I always strongly suspected that the teachers low-ball the grades on the first report card so they can increase them over the year to show "progress." The only way I've actually been able to understand how he's doing is by comparing his work to other kids in person (actually somewhat easier with DL) and standardized testing. He's ahead in some areas, behind in others. I find grades and report cards absolutely worthless. When I read the report card it's almost like they are describing a different child. I even had the surreal experience in PK3 of reading a report card from a teacher (who all term had been sending me increasingly unhinged emails about how terrible his behavior was) claiming that he was doing great.

Teachers have told me they are not allowed to assign 4's to kids in terms 1 and 2 otherwise they will show no progress. Like, they can't be a 4 because they haven't completed terms 1 and 2. I kind of see the logic, but it was weird when my first grader who was reading at a ninth grade level (per the school's testing) got a 3 in reading.

That is a big range. Is this a DC specific test or is it used elsewhere? I've been wondering how much assessments vary across states/cities.

A recent related report if you're interested about the comparability of large-scale assessments: https://naeducation.org/comparability/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the last ELA PARCC at Wilson,
42% of the school was BELOW grade level.

Grade level is a really low standard. Have you seen these tests?
And yet, it's a good idea to put all these kids in a college level English class in 11th grade? Many can't even read.

An elementary teacher should not be allowed to promote a student to the next grade level unless the student has demonstrated proficiency at the current level.

Why are these teachers just passing the buck?

DCPS teachers are not allowed to hold kids back. We are also penalized on IMPACT if we give failing grades.

Sorry for the sidebar but would any of the teachers reading this thread be willing to help explain the rationale behind why social promotion/D-minus minimum is better? Especially before 4th grade? Is there a lot of evidence on this?

Teachers have no say in this, but the rationale would be it doesn't look good to fail or retain students. And there's no written policy, but we quickly figure it out from the CSC rubric.