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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If more than half the kids in a class get an A, there is grade inflation.  And yes, I understand that there is grade inflation everywhere.  Everyone gets a trophy.[/quote]

But one could infer from such a cynical remark that you don’t believe those As are earned.

The purpose of primary and secondary education is to teach mastery of material. It’s not to generate a bell curve where top grades are rationed. Thinking about top grades as a commodity in this way is bizarre and antiquated. It’s literally Ok if half the class gets and A, even if they get to have retakes the like — because it demonstrates they learned the material. Which is the purpose of education. It’s not a race to learn the material “first” and it’s not like someone had to be “best” at it. [/quote]

But when do students learn that college doesn't give them these accommodations? Are students just supposed to adjust to midterms and finals in college when they've never had them in HS? There are no retakes in college so how do they adjust when that's all they've ever known in school? [/quote]

I do think there should be midterms and finals in HS---just to help prepare kids for college.  But kids are HS aged and deserve to have retakes and get some credit.  Those kids are not in college yet and are supposed to actually be learning the material at whatever level they are at.  So yes, I think normal kids can make the adjustment from "some retakes" to none in college fairly easily.

We need to get out of the mindset that HS is ONLY to prepare you for college. It's HS and kids should be helped to learn! My own really smart kid has benefited from retakes (mostly in 9th/10th grade) and from that they learned how to study and prepare better for the future.  Most importantly they learned the actual material they were supposed to learn, which is the entire purpose of school, to get an education.  [/quote]

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