Reply to Changes to grading for all MCPS high school students

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To be fair, the purpose of grading is to measure how well a student understands the material and how well they can complete the skill under a time constraint. For the teacher, grading should be looked at individually and as a whole. If the entire class is missing one question or section then the teacher needs to course correction as they didn’t word or present the material adequately. For the student, grading is part of the learning cycle where they learn more by seeing what they got wrong, understanding why and should be in a position to course correction and do better the next time.

Of course none of this happens because students drop assignments and tests into a black box where the teacher doesn’t return them until the day before quarter ends or much later or maybe never. Tests may be quickly reviewed in class but they are snatched back so the teacher isn’t bothered to create more than one test. This deprives students of an excellent end of year study guide but god forbid the teacher do anything pedagogical.

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This is all true but I wouldn’t frame it as a knock on the teachers.  McPS doesn’t give them the time to give the feedback or get grading done timely.  Also, in college if a prof realizes a test was bad because one or more questions were poorly phrased or too hard, they can adjust the grades or give extra credit or something.  I remember in my HS physics cclass, the teacher gave an army assignment that was impossible and almost everyone failed it, so the teacher assigned an additional assignment as “extra credit” to account for it.  McPS  doesn’t allow extra credit or grading on a carve.  I do think people are gojng to complain more about unfair grading or violations of the grading policy — that currently happens a lot but parents let it go because it so rarely makes a difference under the current grading policy.  [/quote]

Good news! The new policy requires teachers to return graded school work within 10 school days.[/quote]

DP. And I assume the county isn’t giving teachers any additional time to get this done, right? Just more demands on teachers’ home lives? [/quote]

You want more rigor for students but not more rigor on giving students feedback? [/quote]

There are multiple comments on this thread about the absence of written feedback on student work.

I’m a high school teacher who ALWAYS leaves written feedback. I make my students review my feedback and then they have to correct their work using my comments as a guide.

Guess when I leave these comments: at night when I should be with my own children, on Saturday mornings when I should be watching my own kids at practice, on Sunday when I would like to be on a family trip. I work 7 days a week to do what people on this thread want.

So yes, it would be nice to get a little bit of time AT work to DO my work. Then you can get the type of feedback you want for your children without burning out the teacher. I’m very good at what I do, but I’m not sticking around much longer. I’d like a job that respects my health and time.

How much more rigor do you want to impose on me?[/quote]

If teachers or their union could come up with a workable plan for teachers to get school time, I’d support it. But absent that, I still want my children to get timely feedback as is required for proper learning and is required by your job. Full stop. [/quote]

10 extra hours is very reasonable.
15 I can do, but I won’t love it.

30 extra hours a week means I don’t see my own children. Parents like the PP expect me to sacrifice my children for theirs. I can’t do that anymore.

So the teachers who provide feedback and give you the quality instruction you want are quitting. I’m one of them. I’m the teacher you are clamoring to get your child assigned to.

You see the suggestions on this thread already: just don’t assign work, don’t provide feedback, etc. The teachers who operate this way are the ones surviving. You’re going to get more of them as the hard workers burn out. 
[/quote]

You are going to prioritize your children and I’m going to prioritize mine. [/quote]

We agree.

But who is going to teach our children to write persuasive essays? To solve quadratic equations?

My solution supports teachers so they will continue contributing their skill and expertise. I don’t want them burning out because it’s in my own children’s best interest that they don’t. It’s also in your children’s best interest.

-teacher who posted above [/quote]

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