Reply to How many freshman take AP Gov or History?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "How many freshman take AP Gov or History?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

[b]However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.[/b][/quote]

This right here.  When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

[b]AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale.[/b]  They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.  [/quote]

This weighting is not unique to MCPS.[/quote]

[b]It absolutely is

Nationally and all privates:

Honors is a 0.5 bump 
AP is a full 1.0 bump[/b]

Between that and MCPS 89.5 and a 79.5 = an A - there is no other county in the country with inflated grades like MCPS.  Not to mention the 50% and constant retakes teachers allow.

[/quote]
What are you saying there?[/quote]

I had the same reaction.
Where is a 79.5 and A minus? MCPS doesn't even use plus/minus, so a 79.5 is a B. I don't agree with this policy, but it's not as bad as was portrayed.[/quote]

They said a 79.5 and an 89.5 equals an A for a semester grade. They are absolutely correct. It was a dash like a comma. Not a minus sign.

And MCPS should use plus and minus to at least differentiate a bit more. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics