Reply to Pre-Calc and Analysis I Math at Blair

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The teacher does not return the first BIG tests of the marking period until one or two weeks before the end of marking period.  He is a stickler and not pellucid to his students. He deliberately kept the first big exam grades to himself for all 4 marking periods. He gives 3 to 4 Big exams during the marking period and each of these exams are 130 points or more that accounts for 90 percent of his grades. The only way you can get an "A" in this class is to do magnificent in the BIG tests that range from 130-145 points.

·       One example, he gave the BIG exam on April 28 for 130 points (informed the class the exam is for 120 points) but did not give grades until the week of June 6 (week before the end of marking period). He should be transparent to his class and help students surpass their expectations.

·       He provided 88 assignments in the second semester that account for "0" points. This also means students do not have to submit these assignments. They must spend the time and do these assignments if they want to understand limits, differentiation and integration concepts.  But no grade was assigned by the teacher.

·       The 10% is for additional 22 assignments or homework students are required to submit.

·       He gives 2-3 take home quiz (30 points each) that accounts for 90% during the semester, comparing 130-140 Big test points to 30 points take home quiz.

·       He changes the maximum grades before/during/after the Big exam or quiz.  The big quiz at the end of the marking period 4 was originally assigned for 45 points, he changed to 55 points, and finally it was graded for 60 points. He does this for all big quiz and exams throughout the year.

He works hard and posts a lot of Youtube videos, but he must think from student perspective that they have 7 additional subjects including 2-4 AP courses. I am sure he wants students to work hard, and a few students do well in his class. He needs to think for the entire Pre-calc and Analysis class (more than 75 students, in 3 classes).  He should have reduced the points for big exam to a reasonable number of points that can be graded within a week or two and consulted with other STEM teachers on how they design their grades for each assignment. I understand the magnet course is rigorous and challenging. There should be no assignments that have "0" points.  He could have assigned 5 points (90% section) for those 88 assignments that had "0" points, which will help students to keep this rigorous course interesting and challenging. There were no additional opportunities available for students throughout the school year.

He tells his students that he did not have time to grade the big exam, he could have downsized the Big exam compared to other Math magnet teacher. This should give students the opportunity to improve their grades.  He graded the second big exam before the first one.

For all 4 marking periods the very first Big Exam grades (students took within 3 weeks from the beginning of the marking period) were not provided until the last two weeks of the marking period. MCPS requires students to turn in the assignments on time, is there any MCPS policy that a teacher grades these exams within a reasonable timeframe? It is weird that MCPS has expectations from students but not from their teachers.

He also gave 5 pop-quiz in the second semester; my understanding is that MCPS system does not allow pop-quizzes. Program administrator is aware of this, but nothing was done by the administrator and the school principal.

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OP, one thing in your message rang a bell - DC had a math teacher who used to grade everything at the last minute (of the marking period), who also used to teach courses such as magnet precalc and analysis. He was a good and experienced teacher, passionate about math, and DC liked him, except for that part about not knowing grades until close to the end of marking period. It is really unfortunate that this problem has not been rectified.

I have no problem with a system where there are, say, final exams (and only final exams matter) and students don't know their grades for the whole marking period until that exam, *if the whole system is set up like that.* But I do have a problem if a system is set up the way MCPS is, where teachers are supposed to provide continuous feedback, and some teachers do not follow it. Whatever the system it is, I believe there should be consistency, and the teachers should follow the rules. If they don't follow the rules, how can they expect students to follow the rules?

I am not sure I would agree with your points about how much the quiz or test should be worth, pop quizzes, etc.

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