Reply to Middle school grades on high school transcripts

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm the poster at 19:46 and I think you make good points. However, why can't mcps come up with a middle school foreign language (and math!) curriculum that enables kids at the end of eighth grade to test into say spanish 2 or 3 in ninth grade - that way middle school remains middle school and high school remains high school. I really don't get why parents think it is developmentally appropriate for 11 year olds to have what is essentially their first grades ever to count toward high school goa. [/quote]

I'm 19:59 and you certainly gave me some material to think about.  My initial thoughts:

You have a point that it's bizarre to go from no meaningful grades in elementary school to grades that will be recorded on a transcript.  It seems to me that elementary school should have meaningful grades regardless of middle school issues.  I don't think that devaluing middle school grades is the best answer, but there should be some experience with what grades mean and how they work before having them on a transcript.

I notice you say that students could test into Spanish 2 or 3 in ninth grade.  Why is there no option to test into Spanish 4?  Would the classes be paced slower?  Some middle schools current offer the children the choice between a regular first year of language study or one broken up over two years that moves at a slower speed.  While some students prefer the slower option, others prefer the standard pace and would be impatient having to drag out one year of study into two.  I find the idea of a school witholding knowledge to be troubling.

Currently, if a student isn't ready for a high school course in 6th grade, there is no requirement to start one.  They could take other electives and then take two course starting in 7th and still be ready for level 3 in 9th or they could take a split first year to ease them into it and be ready for level 2 in 9th.  For that matter, they could wait until 9th to start, because most colleges want to see 2 years of foreign language taken in high school anyway.

Actually, the most gradual introduction to high school grades would probably be for a child to take no foreign language (FL) in 6th, FL 1A in 7th, FL 1B in 8th and FL 2 in 9th.  This way they could get used to grades in 6th, try out a high school course at 1/2 speed with the chance for it not to count in 7th and 8th grades.  This seems much gentler than waiting for high school where they have several high school classes to juggle all of which are going full speed and all of which will count with no chances of do-overs.

I guess I support maintaining the current middle school foreign language policy, but altering the elementary grading policy.[/quote]

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