Reply to PG County School Fake Graduation rates

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I can't speak for PG, but I will say that when I was teaching middle school in MD several years ago, there was definitely heat put on teachers to keep the "pass rate" high in their classes and to greatly curtail the number of students per year who have to repeat a grade. At the end of a given school year, I might have 18 to 20 out of 125 kids who failed my course for the year. Within our grade level, there might be 11 or 12 kids out of 125 who were failing MULTIPLE subjects - math, English, Science, History, etc. across the board, including many with year end scores nowhere near the 60% needed to pass with a D. We were told during the last quarter that we could not fail more than 2 or 3 kids maximum for the year, regardless of their grades. [b]The teachers were expected to come in on Saturdays to afford students the chance to redo work they did not turn in the first time it was due, any late work had to be accepted and EXTRA work given to improve their grades. Summer school was offered to all who were failing 3 or more subjects, and even then if 7 or 8 kids did not complete that, guess what? They still passed, usually for "social reasons". Only the absolute worst two or three were retained. I saw more kids passed on to the next grade who had no work ethic, no drive to improve to passing level, and who were far below grade level, who just got pushed along because too many 
 retentions made the school look bad. Part of the reason many of our high school graduates have marginal skills, at best. [/b][/quote]

What's the issue with giving the students multiple chances to pass? Is it that the teachers don't want to come in or provide extra credit or makeup tests, or do they think tests and assignments should be a one and done thing? It seems like PGCPS just started doing things the other counties in Maryland already do to help students and help their graduation rates. Nothing about these methods indicates cheating or changing grades to grades the student did not earn. There will always be unmotivated students no matter the interventions offered. Hopefully the unmotivated students will take advantage of an adult education program later in life. High school graduates having marginal skills is a nationwide problem, not unique to PGCPS. Colleges and Universities all over the country have noted more incoming students needing remedial courses.

Do the people complaining not believe the kids are capable of passing with extra intervention? If they can do extra assignments for credit or retake a test after tutoring and get a better grade, they earned it at that point. Do the complainers want to go back to old methods that did not show any improvement? Some kids were not prepared either way, but now some kids on the borderline are being identified and helped to become successful students. They should do this intervention before high school, but it is good it is being done.[/quote]

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