Reply to MCPS policy on not returning quizzes, tests and exams to students

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Reply to "MCPS policy on not returning quizzes, tests and exams to students"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is just a lazy policy because MCPS doesn't want to change the tests each year.  They rather keep them stale and parents not informed.  But if you want to leave your job early multiple times a month so the teacher can show you the test you can.  Don't they make that convenient??  Oh and the teachers get REALLY annoyed if you ask to come in for every test you can't see.  Like we should just be okay with a little sheet that shows how many my child got right.  Oh, and make sure you don't try to write a math problem down so your child can redo it at home to help them learn.  It is not allowed.  And make sure to ask if the teacher has the kids redo the problems in the class before moving onto the next section so they can understand what they did wrong.  Most don't.  Once the test is returned for 5-10 minutes to the child, they wipe the slate clean.  [/quote]

I teach for MCPS. I never get annoyed that parents want to see the County tests. I try to make it both painless and useful. I make appointments before school (as early as 6:30 AM), during my lunch period, and after school for parent's convenience. I prefer that the studen attend with the parent and I walk through each test item as well as the study guide that was provided and any related classwork, HW, or prior assessments.

I do get annoyed if parents blame me for the County policy, try to get me to violate the policy by sending the test home with the kid or scanned in an email, or attempt to violate the security of the test by taking notes or cell phone pics.

Luckily, most parents understand there is no value in shooting the messenger. But I get 3-4 parents a year who try to bully me because they know they can't bully Central office.

By the way, before I became a PS teacher, I worked for an educational testing and software company. I was trained to write good test questions. It took a long time to learn. It takes a long time to craft and field test each item. It's expensive to pay the test writers and run the field tests. MoCo parents already complain about the salaries of Central Office staff. Imagine how much more it would cost to write a new county test for each unit every year for 5-7 years to build up a sufficiently varied pool of high quality items. Or picture the outcry on DCUM if high-performing teachers were paid each summer to write hundreds of new test items.[/quote]

Teacher, thank you for your wonderful response. You sound like the kind of teacher any student would be lucky to have. Like another pp, we have one student in MCPS and one in private. Although it is possible to see the tests, it took us years to realize that this was an option & it took years to understand that there is not always a thorough review of missed work. After 6 years in MCPS, we are still paying for our earlier oversights - our child was passed up in "honors" classes with no attention to the basics of grammar. We've spent thousands trying to remediate this, and sadly we see the same issues with our younger child. It is very hard to "remediate" at home if both parents work.[/quote]

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