Reply to Superintendent Taylor admits there is grade inflation in MCPS during BoE meeting

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a parent, I am wondering what do they mean by grade inflation in Math? 
How is it done and who does it help?[/quote]
NP here - 22 years in MCPS in MS for 10 and HS for 12 years.

The primary grade inflation for all subjects is the overly generous semester grade scheme (AB=A) combined with generous grading on assignments. When you look closer at those low "A"s (89.5-90.5), they happen because of generous retake and late work policy, combined with projects or assignments that are really for completion but get put in the all tasks category.

Now add in the counselor/admin expectation that all kids should be allowed to take any course they want to try, even if they really aren't ready for it for various reasons (skills, work ethic, background content). When those kids struggle, it's definitely the fault of the teacher, which leads to those generous/flexible assignments. I am teaching an Honors course now where almost all the students getting As would have had Cs 10 years ago - same curriculum. But I've had to simplify assignments, do more leading kids through an assignment (rather than them being able to work independently), lower expectations on tests, and cut out several rich learning activities each quarter. Flip side - I occasionally try to pull a creative, open ended activity that I used successfully in middle school with 6th & 7th graders 15 years ago only to realize that my current 11th and 12th graders can't do it without heavily modifying it and telling them step by step what to do. It is depressing. Low expectations and lack of rigor over the years adds up. Parents and students expect high grades, but with minimal effort. If something is too hard, again, the teacher is a bad teacher. Can't put them in the right level course because that will cause DC to have anxiety if they aren't with their "peers", but also, can't expect them to put in the work, because that is causing them anxiety, but also, their low grade is causing them anxiety so can we just excuse a bunch of the assignments.

We don't have standards based grading. Never have had it - parents want the gold star "A" without understanding that it has no intrinsic meaning anymore. The only courses that come close are AP or IB courses, because there is an external measure (test) at the end to hold students accountable for learning something. The removal of final exams 9(?) years ago was the death knell for Honors classes.

The three changes I think would help with both motivating students and more accurately representing understanding are:
1. Use numerical % for each quarter and average for the final semester grade.
2. Add in +/- to grades. It would really help distinguish between students, which will keep many of them working hard all semester.
3. Bring back county-wide final exams, but only for Honors Courses. In order to keep the Honors designation, students have to pass the final exam with at least a 60% (D) and it gets factored into your semester grade. If you don't pass, the course is not designated as Honors and the grade is just the average of the two quarters. [/quote]

At our school kids cannot have retakes except on a rare assignment, never tests.  Its very inconsistent teacher to teacher and school to school.[/quote]

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