Reply to Why are kids mad about the new grading?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a current MCPS student and heard that students are going to board meetings to talk about the new grading. Why is it such a problem? I’m a rising junior, by the way, and it would just seem that you should keep with your current output of work and your grades will be fine. It seems to only be a problem if you’re slacking off, so I would understand a few stragglers, but even in my own inner circle, people are really mad. Is there something I don’t know? Thanks in advance.[/quote]
HS Teacher here. A fear that many students have is that this change will impact college admissions because their GPAs will be lower. The problem is that students think they are competing against every other kid who applies to a particular college, but in reality they are competing against the other kids in their high school who will be affected the same way.

[b]What students don’t see is that the current grading policy has actually been hurting college admissions because they have internal data that shows supposedly straight A kids from MCPS weren’t actually ready for their university courses. [/b]Students also don’t understand that padding their transcript with As and Bs in AP courses they barely understand doesn’t really help them when they get to college and are completely unprepared for next level courses or how to study and retain information for an entire semester.[/quote]

I have a similar but ever so slightly different take: The old grading policy benefited students who were A-/B+ kids (MCPS doesn't use + or -). They could get straight As even with Bs in some quarters. This meant that to colleges, there was a larger cohort of kids coming from MCPS that were indistinguishable from one another. This hurt the really stellar students, who struggled to differentiate themselves from the tier 2.

So now I feel it's more equitable. The top students will still be at the top, and will be recognized as such. The second tier will be where they actually belong, in the second tier. And so on. It's fair. I don't think anyone can argue with that![/quote]
It is absolutely fair, but the fact that A-/B+ students will be differentiated from straight A students is exactly what kids fear. Even if you’re a rising senior who has never gotten a B, it could happen, and now you will pay a real price for it. The OP didn’t ask if the new policy was fair; they asked why kids are mad about it. What you’re posting about is why kids don’t want this change in policy. New fear unlocked.[/quote]

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